BACK TO BASICS

Lately at work, there has been a lot of talk about gossiping. And I can completely understand the need to limit the amount of gossip flying around (since it really isn’t good for the morale of the employees) but let’s not get out of hand here. There is gossip and there is venting. So again, here goes the American way of misunderstanding things (or is it just that they cannot simply leave well enough alone?).

Thus, let’s look at what ‘gossip’ actually means, shall we? According to Encarta Dictionary ‘to gossip’ means “to spread rumors or tell people the personal details of others’ lives, especially maliciously”, and ‘a gossip’ is a “conversation about the personal details of other people’s lives, whether rumor or fact, especially when malicious” or a person “who habitually discusses the personal details of others’ lives”.

And there is venting, which so often is confused with gossiping. If, for example, I complain to a co-worker about another that happened to piss me off, I am not gossiping (contrary to what some would like to believe) but simply venting my frustrations. Since ‘to vent’ means “to release or […] express strong feelings or emotions”…

So my question is: why do Americans try to eliminate all kinds of talking among co-workers? People need an avenue to vent their frustrations and annoyance at work since there is an enormous amount of stress associated with work in general. And then you add the ongoing fight to reduce so-called gossip, which only adds fuel to the fire…

I was lucky enough to work in both European and American environments and I must admit that the European (even though is as stressful as American) is far less strict with what the employees can and cannot do while at work, which only makes for nicer working atmosphere. And the only solution to the problem that comes to mind is simply to understand (and I mean totally comprehend) the difference between gossiping and venting. But that would require a basic knowledge of English language, which Americans so often lack…