What's the difference between gossip and slander?

Gossip


Definition:

  • (n.) A sponsor; a godfather or a godmother.
  • (n.) A friend or comrade; a companion; a familiar and customary acquaintance.
  • (n.) One who runs house to house, tattling and telling news; an idle tattler.
  • (n.) The tattle of a gossip; groundless rumor.
  • (v. t.) To stand sponsor to.
  • (v. i.) To make merry.
  • (v. i.) To prate; to chat; to talk much.
  • (v. i.) To run about and tattle; to tell idle tales.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Trawling through the private telephone conversations of royals, politicians and celebrities in the hope of picking up scandalous gossip is not seen as legitimate news gathering and the techniques of entrapment which led to the recent Pakistani match-fixing scandal , although grudgingly admired in this particular case, are derided as manufacturing the news.
  • (2) Facebook Twitter Pinterest May dismisses reports of frosty dinner with EU chief as ‘Brussels gossip’ The EU delegation are said to have wondered whether Davis might still be in his post following the general election.
  • (3) Ministers can glean vital gossip about cabinet reshuffles if they keep on the right side of their drivers, who form the most high-class grapevine in Britain as they wait in the Speaker's courtyard at Westminster while their charges vote in the Commons.
  • (4) Others will point out that this is a case of pot calling kettle black as Wolff is himself a famous peddler of tittle-tattle – the aggregator website that he cofounded, Newser, even has a section called "Gossip".
  • (5) That's the kind of insider gossip you get when you're a media player like me.
  • (6) Similarly literary and pensive was Clouds of Sils Maria , in which France's Olivier Assayas combined some modish themes — the internet, celebrity gossip, superhero movies — with some hoarier themes regarding the theatre-cinema divide, ageing and female rivalry.
  • (7) Lord Justice Leveson's court was packed with lawyers, journalists and computer screens, which made it look like a City trading floor, and which – in a way – is the Leveson story: what price privacy, what price the risk of publishing gossip without checking it, what price tip-off fees about the rich and famous that might be worth £5,000 to a police or NHS worker – or the £500,000 (so top injunction solicitor, Graham Shears, told the hearing) for bedding a David Beckham?
  • (8) He likes the policy bit of politics rather more than the showbusiness, and there is no fodder for gossip in his personal life.
  • (9) A few weeks ago, myriad gossip sites published photos of the Malibu home he just bought, going through the place room by room.
  • (10) A leading member of Voronin's party, Mark Tkachuk, told reporters the claims were "fairy tales" and "low-life gossip".
  • (11) It wasn't just women who gossiped in the queues for water: it was a community event.
  • (12) As a result of the disastrous supreme court Citizens United decision,” Sanders said, “billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates.” He also appealed for a campaigns without “gossip”, saying: “I’ve never run a negative ad in my life … I believe that in a democracy what elections are about are serious debates over serious issues.” “This is not the Red Sox versus the Yankees.” Progressive activists welcomed his entry into the race but continued to urge Warren, who is seen as a more polished performer, to compete against Clinton as well.
  • (13) Smith responded by saying he would not “indulge in gossip”.
  • (14) How can free expression and the yearning for a private life be protected in this murky arena of a gossip free-for-all?
  • (15) Before what is bound to be a gossip-fuelled party conference season in which Lib Dem flirtation with Labour (and vice versa) will be added to the mix of plotting, irresistible visions of the future home into view.
  • (16) But with no arrests and no obvious external suspects, the girls' family have found themselves the subject of local gossip, newspaper speculation and background briefings intended to place them firmly in the frame.
  • (17) Matters of the utmost importance – such as inequality, poverty, exploitation, corporate crime and the destruction of the natural world – are neglected or marginalised, while trivial political gossip is elevated to the status of major news.
  • (18) According to reports , the Goody wedding issue of Richard Desmond's celebrity gossip magazine sold 1.8 million copies, more than three times its average circulation of 508,504 in the second half of 2008.
  • (19) Its target is not just celebrity intrusion but bias, unfairness and gossip in the style of Private Eye and the "off Fleet Street" plethora of news-and-comment websites.
  • (20) He gossips about former colleagues and even offers theories about how to solve the developing international crisis in the Crimea – ban Russia from the Olympics, maybe.

Slander


Definition:

  • (n.) A false tale or report maliciously uttered, tending to injure the reputation of another; the malicious utterance of defamatory reports; the dissemination of malicious tales or suggestions to the injury of another.
  • (n.) Disgrace; reproach; dishonor; opprobrium.
  • (n.) Formerly, defamation generally, whether oral or written; in modern usage, defamation by words spoken; utterance of false, malicious, and defamatory words, tending to the damage and derogation of another; calumny. See the Note under Defamation.
  • (v. t.) To defame; to injure by maliciously uttering a false report; to tarnish or impair the reputation of by false tales maliciously told or propagated; to calumniate.
  • (v. t.) To bring discredit or shame upon by one's acts.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I will confine myself to correcting Kaiman's slanders against the most open and generous immigration system in the developed world.
  • (2) It is socially very divisive, it is stigmatising, it is subtly slanderous and it is immoral.
  • (3) It’s unfortunate that companies should have to continue to correct the government’s slander,” the union said.
  • (4) "I will, no doubt, be interrrupted, shouted down, slandered, put on the spot, and subject to a scrutiny that would be a thousand times more intense than anything directed at other panellists."
  • (5) "They slandered us, slung mud at us and shut us out of all the news media – the TV channels of the corrupt elite – and we beat them," the 55-year-old leader said as the votes came in.
  • (6) Sarah Champion, John Healey and Kevin Barron are suing Collins – who represents Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire in the European parliament – for libel and slander for accusations she made in her speech at last year’s Ukip party conference.
  • (7) They are slanderous and therefore libellous," she told the Sunday Times.
  • (8) There have been rumours, however, denied as slander by those still there, of rising alcoholism and petty thuggery.
  • (9) In spite of this manifest acknowledgment of John Hunter's greatness there are nevertheless numerous aspects of his character, his health, and his opinions which have been the subject of criticism, misunderstanding, lack of appreciation, and even slander.
  • (10) Consideration is given to potential liability due to malpractice, negligent interference with a workers' contractual relationship with his or her employer, libel and slander, and unauthorized release of information.
  • (11) China has condemned Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, for "maliciously slandering" its self-proclaimed air defence zone, ratcheting up the war of words between the neighbours over Beijing's annexation of the skies over a group of disputed islands.
  • (12) During his 45-minute talk delivered from Jamaica, Faisal was heard saying: “Instead of embracing the Islamic State, supporting the Islamic State and doing everything humanly possible for the success of the state … all they do is slander the mujahideen,” he said.
  • (13) Trump insisted that the press as a whole was “false and slanderous in every respect” and said “the depths of their immorality is absolutely unlimited”.
  • (14) Qatar’s FA said the remark by Zwanziger showed collective disrespect and was slanderous and he should not be allowed to repeat it, according to the court statement.
  • (15) While Vatican spokesmen continue to maintain that Seromba is a victim of malicious slander, the Florence diocese announced this week that it had an open mind as to his culpability.
  • (16) KCNA quoted the foreign ministry as saying: “As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.
  • (17) But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated, or churches that are destroyed, or the Holocaust that is denied.
  • (18) As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.
  • (19) Police staying back #OccupyGezi #Turkey June 11, 2013 9.08am BST AKP plans curb on Twitter The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) has vowed to begin censoring Twitter in an effort to curb "dangerous" slander, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reports .
  • (20) The drama about the slandered Bristol schoolteacher also won the mini-series prize, one of a number of double winners at the ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, on Sunday night.