Gossip (German klatsch, French bavardage) was defined in reference works of the 18th century as “common vice” that primarily brought shame upon the person who gossiped [1]. By the end of the 18th century, if not earlier, gossip was associated with female servants (Servants in husbandry) as the sort of talk that “spins out all kinds of disagreements and, with unnecessary elaborations and expatiations... arouses strife and rancor” [2]. In the usage of the time, goss…