Wine Talk

"I Heard it Through the Grapevine"

To hear something “through the grapevine” is to learn something informally by means of gossip and rumor. The usual implication is that the information is passed from one person to the next by word of mouth among friends and coworkers. So, we know what it means, but where is it from? There are several origins of the phrase (none of which involve Marvin Gaye).

• Stems & Tendrils: It often means garbling the facts or reporting untruths, but also transmitting vital messages quickly over distances using multiple people.  So reflecting the gnarled and contorted stems, and the coiling tendrils of the grapevine, the phrase came to use.

• Grapevine Telegraph: The term originated in the USA, shortly after the invention of the telegraph in 1844. The system required miles and miles of wire attached to poles, carefully placed at regular intervals. People thought the wires and poles looked a lot like the strings placed along the rows of a vineyard, that are used to train the vine, hence the nickname.

• Word of Mouth: Back when smart phones and texting didn’t exist, people had to rely on their vocal cords to communicate. It’s true!  You could look it up! The term would often refer to communications taking place in the rural community where laborers would pass along messages from one end of the field to the other, and interactions among people who could be expected to be found among grapevines.