The Greek word schÃsma derived from the Latin schisma, which came to Castilian as gossip. Gossip is a rumor, gossip or gossip that is usually spread by word of mouth, often with the aim of criticizing a person.
It can be said that a gossip implies referring to someone without the latter being present. The usual thing is that the comment that is made is negative for the person referred to, for which it is assumed that, if he learns of the circulation of gossip, he will be upset.
According to DigoPaul, gossip can refer to a true story whose protagonist does not want to publicize, or to a false news that is spread with a harmful purpose. Suppose a single woman becomes pregnant in a casual relationship and does not want to break the news, at least not yet. However, the secretary of the gynecologist who treats her tells the gossip to a friend, who in turn tells it to other people. Thus the story spreads throughout the neighborhood.
Usually the gossip presents information that has not been verified. Many times part of a real event that is exaggerated or distorted. The protagonist, not being aware of the gossip, does not have the possibility to correct or deny the version.
Although the gossip was born as comments from limited social groups (a family, a neighborhood, etc.), nowadays they tend to feed the contents of the yellow press (tabloid press) or pink (heart press).
In these contexts, gossip is the essential material to sustain an industry that entertains millions and millions of people every day based on false and irrelevant news, or on information that should remain in the private circles from which they are torn by the force, about the lives of the rich and famous.
As the millions of dollars that this type of press manages to raise every day can evidence, gossip is not a negative thing for tabloid journalists, but they consider it an absolutely valid source of information and necessary to carry out their business. However, it is enough to use a fraction of good sense and compassion to understand that in many cases this hurts the characters mentioned in the supposed news.
When gossip is simply focused on the amount of money a person spends in their favorite stores per week or the number of cars that a certain movie star has, no one can feel very offended, or at least it is not data that can harm the protagonists at the legal level; however, when we enter the realm of crimes, such as the abuse of illegal substances, everything changes.
Gossip can seem fun to those who invent it and to those who spread it; however, they sometimes threaten the reputation of the protagonists to the point of putting their continuity in a job position at risk or, worse still, their freedom.
All this leads us to wonder why someone feels the need to make up a story that involves another person, especially when it is presented in ways that are detrimental to their image. On the one hand, it may be due to resentment for not having achieved one’s dreams, which leads to envy and the need to destroy those who have. But, hard as it may seem, even the most dangerous gossip can come up innocently, out of boredom.
In Spain, the word “gossip” has another meaning, which defines it as “an article of little value “, and can be used to refer to any object in a derogatory way; for example: “Get this gossip out of here. “