Hey, everyone. How’s it going?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre boatos, e como prometer que não vai contar nada pra ninguém.

Transcrição

Hello, all. How are you today? This is the new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

So, do you know what a rumor is? Rumor. A rumor is a piece of information, and this piece of information is unverified, which means no one really knows whether it’s true or not, and no one really knows who started it. Usually no one knows who actually started the rumor. I’ll bet every one of you listening knows what I’m talking about. When I worked for corporations, there were rumors all the time about this manager and that director not getting along, or a rumor that sales people were going to be laid off and so on.

So like I said before, a rumor is a piece of information that no one can really vouch for, right? It’s that kind of thing you hear from a colleague, or when you’re eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation… No one can say “This is the truth. This piece of information is true”. No, it’s always like “There’s a rumor that this or that is going to happen” or “Have you heard? There’s a rumor that Jenn is gonna be the next VP of Sales”. “Hey, I’ve heard that blah blah blah”. That’s a rumor, or boato as we say in Portuguese.

Rumors are usually spread by word of mouth, right? What does “word of mouth” mean? That’s when people speak to each other, when they talk to each other, when information is spread through conversation among people. So when someone tells someone else about some story they heard, that may or may not be true… that’s how rumors are spread: by word of mouth.

So you can say “There’s a rumor that Mark is gonna get promoted”. And you can also say “Rumor has it that Mark is gonna get promoted”. “Rumor has it” is a set phrase and it’s a very common way to introduce some piece of information you heard from someone and you don’t know whether it’s true or not. Example… Rumor has it that Ashton Kutcher is gonna be in the next novela das 8. There’s a rumor that we’re gonna have a local CNN channel. Rumor has it that we’re gonna have new employees from Spain. So, what’s the last rumor you heard?

OK, so let’s move on to another set phrase in English. This is an expression you can use when someone tells you a secret, and then asks you not to tell anyone. You can say My lips are sealed.  My lips are sealed. When you say that, you’re telling that person that the secret won’t come out of your mouth because your lips are sealed. You won’t tell anyone. You won’t tell a soul.

By the way, this is another very common phrase when you’re saying you’re going to keep something to yourself; you’re not gonna tell anyone: you can say I won’t tell a soul. My lips are sealed, I won’t tell a soul.

So next time someone tells you a secret, you can say “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. My lips are sealed”. Or when your coworker tells you she’s looking for a new job and asks you not to tell anyone, you can say “I won’t tell a soul”.

Please tell us in the comments about the last time you heard a false rumor. Talk to you next time!

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