- A vine on which grapes grow.
- The informal transmission of information, gossip, or rumor from person to person.
- A usually unrevealed source of confidential information.
grapevine
Dictionary:
grape·vine (grāp'vīn')  |
n.
| Business Dictionary: Grapevine |
Unofficial path of verbal communication. Rumors or scuttlebutt are spread from person to person through an informal network.
| Word Origin: grapevine |
Origin: 1848
First came the telegraph, then the grapevine. In fact, one led to the other. This would seem to reverse the natural order, in that Mother Nature grew grapevines long before Samuel Morse strung the first telegraph wire from Washington to Baltimore in 1844. And Americans talked of grapevines long before then too; there is mention of "grape Vines" in Rhode Island in 1654. But it was the likeness--and unlikeness--of grapevines to telegraph wires that inspired the modern use of grapevine to refer to the means by which unofficial news and rumors are spread.
In contrast to the straight copper wire of the telegraph, a grapevine is gnarled and twisted. So the grapevine telegraph, as it was originally called, was also gnarled. Like Morse's telegraph, it was speedy and carried news, but unlike the Morse telegraph, it operated privately and by word of mouth. Public and official news zipped along the telegraph wires; nearly as quickly went the person-to-person reports of the grapevine.
Since the grapevine was clandestine, we do not know when it was first used, but the late 1840s is a safe guess. There is a printed report in 1852 declaring, "By the Grape Vine Telegraph Line...we have received the following." In Up from Slavery (1901), Booker T. Washington marvels at how rapidly slaves in the South got news about the abolition movement, Lincoln's campaign for the presidency, and the Civil War through the "grape-vine telegraph."
Coming from unofficial and often unknown sources, news on the grapevine was properly viewed with skepticism. Soldiers in the Civil War used grapevine to mean "gossip" and "rumor," news that was not to be trusted. Around the same time, out in California, grapevine telegraph meant "a Bogus (1797) or tardy source of information." A newspaper that suspected a rival publication of inventing fictitious reports would accuse it of using the grapevine telegraph instead of the real thing.
The telegraph now is in disuse, but in this era of instant electronic communication, the grapevine is stronger than ever, efficiently circulating news, gossip, and rumor in an organization or community outside of official channels.
| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: Grapevine |
(1) Former monthly newsletter of the Psychic Information Exchange. Included articles on the paranormal, self-development lessons, notices of meetings, and book reviews. Apparently no longer active.
(2) Monthly newsletter of the Movement for a New Society, de-voted to alternative and nonviolent living. Last known address: 6722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143.
| Wikipedia: Grapevine (gossip) |
- See also Chinese whispers, Gossip
To hear something through the grapevine is to learn of something informally and unofficially by means of gossip and rumor.
The usual implication is that the information was passed person to person by word of mouth, perhaps in a confidential manner among friends or colleagues. It can also imply an overheard conversation or anonymous sources of information. For instance "I heard through the grapevine that Brad was getting fired."
Contents |
Etymology
In the autobiography of Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Washington says that slaves in the South kept up-to-date on current events by "what was termed the 'grape-vine' telegraph." He said,
| “ | Often the slaves got knowledge of the results of great battles before the white people received it. This news was usually gotten from the coloured man who was sent to the post office for the mail... The man who was sent to the post office would linger about the place long enough to get the drift of the conversation from the group of white people who naturally congregated there, after receiving their mail, to discuss the latest news. The mail carrier on his way back to our master's house would as naturally retail the news that he had secured among the slaves, and in this way they often heard of important events before the white people at the 'big house,' as the master's house was called. | ” |
According to Jitendra Mishra:[1]
| “ | The term grapevine can be traced to Civil War days when vinelike telegraph wires were strung from tree to tree across battlefields and used by Army Intelligence.[4] The messages that came over these lines were often so confusing or inaccurate that soon any rumor was said to come from the grapevine. Usually, grapevines flow around water coolers, down hallways, through lunch rooms, and wherever people get together in groups.[5] The lines of communication seem to be haphazard and easily disrupted as the telegraph wires were, however, they transmit information rapidly and in many cases faster and with a stronger impact than the formal system allows. | ” |
The term gained a boost in popularity through its use in the Motown song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a major hit single for both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips in the late 1960s.
Grapevine/Informal Communication
The term grapevine communication is often used interchangeably with the term informal communication. The term originated in the 1860s during the American Civil War. It was used as a term that described the telegraph lines that were strung through the trees in a manner that resembled grapevines. It also came to mean informal communication that was not very effective because the telegraph system was not a reliable source of communication at the time. Almost a century later, it was discovered that the path of grapevine communication does resemble a cluster of grapes.
It has been shown that informal communication or grapevine communication occurs when formal communication is not sufficient. Research and studies have concluded that informal communication occurs either when insufficient of ambiguous information is transmitted through formal communication. Some organizational theorists feel that some informal or grapevine communication is needed in organizational life.
The way grapevine communication works is one person, Person 1, sends a message to Person 2 and Person 3. Then, Person 2 tells Person 4 and Person 5. And Person 3 tells Person 6. Not all participants within the grapevine send messages. Some participants are just receivers. Liaisons within an organization usually help facilitate grapevine communication. The use of this type of communication is common among managers as well as subdivision employees.
The types of rumors that are spread through grapevine communication can be classified into two groups, spontaneous and premeditated. Spontaneous rumors are spread when people are stressed or in an untrustworthy environment. Premeditated rumors spread within highly competitive environments. These two groups can be broken down into four classifications: wish fulfillment, anxiety, wedge drivers, and home stretchers. These types of rumors can also be spread through other types of informal network structures such as the single strand chain, the cluster chain, the probability chain, and the gossip chain.
Jitendra Mishra derived 8 reasons Grapevine communication Exists. Some of the reasons include the need for faster communication, useful messages transmitted, outlets for imagination and apprehension, and helps build teamwork and corporate identity. Surprisingly, 75% of all organizations’ practices, policies, and procedures are shared through grapevine communication. Studies have shown the employees find informal communication such as grapevine communication to be more effective than formal channels of communication.
See also
References
- ^ Managing the grapevine., Jitendra Mishra, Public Personnel Management.
Further reading
- Clegg, Stewart R., et al. The SAGE Handbook of Organization Studies. SAGE Publications , 2006.
- "Heard It Through the Grapevine". (February 10, 1997). Forbes, pp. 22
"Managing the Grapevine". journal excerpt. Public Personal Management. 1990. http://www.analytictech.com/mb119/grapevine-article.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- Papa, Michael J., Tom D. Daniels and Barry K. Spiker. Organizational Communication: Perspective and Trends. SAGE Publications, 2008.
- Porterfield, Donald F. "Organizational Communication Developments from 1960 to the Present." The Journal of Business Communication (n.d.): 18-23.
- Robbins, Stephen; Essentials of Organizational Behavior (8th ed.) New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-144571-5.
- Spillan, John E., Mary Mino and M. Susan Rowles. "Sharing Organizational Messages Through Effective Lateral Communication." Qualitative Research Reports in Communication (2002): 96-104.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Grapevine |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - vinranke, vinstok
idioms:
- on the grapevine rygtevis
- through the grapevine via hemmelige veje, mund-til-mund metoden
Nederlands (Dutch)
wijnstok, gerucht, geheime informatiebron via via (vernemen), uit de tweede hand
Français (French)
n. - vigne, pied de vigne
idioms:
- on the grapevine indirect, indirectement, la rumeur publique voudrait que ...
- through the grapevine indirect, indirectement, la rumeur publique voudrait que ...
Deutsch (German)
n. - Weinrebe, (ugs.) Flüsterpropaganda
idioms:
- on the grapevine aus zweiter Hand, durch Flüsterpropaganda
- through the grapevine aus zweiter Hand, durch Flüsterpropaganda
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) άμπελος, κλήμα, πηγή πληροφοριών ή διαδόσεων
idioms:
- on the grapevine από ανεπίσημα κανάλια
- through the grapevine από ανεπίσημα κανάλια
idioms:
- on/through the grapevine indirettamente
Português (Portuguese)
n. - videira (f) (Bot.), boato (m)
idioms:
- on/through the grapevine por vias secretas
Русский (Russian)
виноградная лоза, неофициальные средства передачи информации
idioms:
- on/through the grapevine по слухам
Español (Spanish)
n. - vid, parra, rumores
idioms:
- on the grapevine me lo dijo un pajarito, lo escuché en radio macuto
- through the grapevine me lo dijo un pajarito, lo escuché en radio macuto
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - vinranka, grundlöst rykte
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
葡萄藤, 消息途径, 秘密来源
idioms:
- on the grapevine 在葡萄藤上, 谣言, 传闻
- through the grapevine 来自于小道消息, 来自于内线消息
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 葡萄藤, 消息途徑, 秘密來源
idioms:
- on the grapevine 在葡萄藤上, 謠言, 傳聞
- through the grapevine 來自於小道消息, 來自於內線消息
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 포도 넝쿨, 헛소문, 비밀 정보, 피겨 스케이트 종목의 하나
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ブドウの木, 情報網
idioms:
- on/through the grapevine 人づてに
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) كرمه : شجرة العنب بواسطتها الخبر من شيء الى, اخر تعبير مجازي عن طريقه ينتقل, (وتقابل قالت لي العصفورة)...
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - גפן, הפצת ידיעות או שמועות באופן לא-רשמי, מקור סודי
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Business Dictionary. Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Word Origin. America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Grapevine (gossip)". Read more |
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