gos·sip /ˈgɒsəp/ [gos-uhp] noun, verb, -siped or -sipped, -sip·ing or -sip·ping.

–noun

1.	idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others: the endless gossip about Hollywood stars.

2.	light, familiar talk or writing.

3.	Also, gos·sip·er, gos·sip·per. a person given to tattling or idle talk.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to talk idly, esp. about the affairs of others; go about tattling.

- www.Dictionary.com

"Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others.

While gossip forms one of the oldest and (still) the most common means of spreading and sharing facts and views, it also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and other variations into the information thus transmitted. The term also carries implications that the news so transmitted (usually) has a personal or trivial nature. Compare conversation." - Wikipedia

I have lately been plagued with gossip. Pretty much all at work. I feel like I spend most of my time trying to distinguish truth from fiction in all the things I hear. I recently have been told some things that have upset me... about one of my best friends. I tossed and turned all night... should I ask her if the rumor is true? is it any of my business? does it matter if it's true or not? do I really want to know if it's true?

I thought that if I asked her and it turned out the rumor were true, it would really hurt our friendship. I really wasn't sure that I wanted to know, but I didn't think I could stand the uncertainty. Finally I decided that, not only wasn't it my business, but I could not spend the very precious and limited time that I have left with this friend running around confirming idle gossip. When I started to think about what the gossip had told me, it seemed incredibly unlikely - not just the thought that my best friend would do something that would really hurt me - just where we she find the time to do the things she was accused of?

I hope that catches on and I pay less and less attention to idle gossip and give it less weight.

Proverbs 31:27 
"She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat." - www.Bible.com    This is my daily devotion.