🗓️ Idiom: Hear It Through the Grapevine (verb phrase)
💬 Meaning
- To learn news or information informally, often by gossip.
- To hear something from other people, not directly from the main source.
🧠 Example Sentences
- I heard through the grapevine that the company is planning a merger.
- She heard through the grapevine that her colleague was leaving.
- We heard through the grapevine about the changes before management told us.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the 19th century in the United States, where the telegraph system was sometimes called the “grapevine telegraph” because the wires looked like vines. People also used “grapevine” for informal communication, and it became linked with hearing rumors.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
“I __________ through the grapevine that our office might be moving to a new building.”
Answer
heard it
2. Multiple choice:
What does “hear it through the grapevine” mean?
a) To listen to music at a vineyard
b) To hear news from unofficial or informal sources
c) To read official company announcements
Answer
b) To hear news from unofficial or informal sources
3. Change the sentence using “hear it through the grapevine”:
I found out informally that our manager is getting promoted.
Answer
I heard it through the grapevine that our manager is getting promoted.
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