More Than Words

by: Grace M. Leung

Untruth and Its Consequences

Ruined friendships like that of Patty and Shiela are not the only casualties in wars sparked by gossip. Whoever said that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" underestimated the power of words. Words, when used for gossip can become weapons.

Almost all gossip are either outright lies, or exaggerated, twisted versions of the truth. Usually those who gossip talk about things that never happened, jump to conclusions by falsely interpreting actions, or quote something that was not said. These untruths or half-truths can be damaging to someone's reputation, as they paint a false picture of the victim's true character. It makes people think that a person is something she is not, and that she did something she didn't do or will never do.

Short of having a finger pointed at your face, being gossiped about is like being falsely accused. It can result in very painful emotions:

The loss of trust between people who have always had a high regard for each other.

Grief and confusion over being a victim for reasons one doesn't usually know or understand

A sense of helplessness because rumor mongers always do it behind the person's back, and the roots of gossip are often difficult to trace.

Being gossiped about can be at the very least irritating and frustrating; At most it can make someone think about leaving her loved ones or even ending her life!

More often than not, even after a rumor has been disproved, the damage has already been done. The victim has been hurt, friendships have been destroyed, reputations ruined. Not everyone who has heard the gossip can be convinced that everything was just talk.

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Comments

1. leanne_hat says:: i really hate people who back stab me and make me as their object and make me famous through their gossips as well as i hate talking about somebody in their back because for me it means you are weak to tell it to their face.
July 3, 2008 at 5:24 am
2. nadinecamille_candy says:: Nakaka-asar ganitong tao. Sasabihin pa nila ikaw nagsabi pero hindi naman ikaw..
July 3, 2008 at 4:56 pm
3. marley says:: gossips gossips gossips one thing people won't live without., even me i also like to gossip but truth not just humors n_n :) xoxo gossip girl oh yeah
July 3, 2008 at 5:04 pm
4. miicqah says:: i hate it. why there are lots of people who cant do anything but to have a trip on u .. if they are jealous of what the closeness u have to that guy .. then its not u problem nymore .. its hers. Ü
July 3, 2008 at 7:24 pm
5. roux",++roxy++ says:: gossip..mm..hmm..who likes it anyway..every time i walk by, i know they always talk about me..Good God!!what do they always care about..why do they always take time to have rumors about me, when i don't even have time looking at them or talking about them..all i know is that they're just jealous about me..i don't even know them for, God's sake!!
July 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm
6. kristelle_ann011 says:: that definitely pull out the dark side of gossips. even the merest things could actually transist for the worse.
July 4, 2008 at 6:58 pm
7. sassy_girl12 says:: the funny thing about people who spread gossip is that most of the time, they do it just for the heck of it, without any deep reasons at all
July 5, 2008 at 10:27 am
8. dion19 says:: People who spread gossips are those people who have insecurities and felt that they are inferior..some of them might felt that they are not accepted by their peers so they do gossiping..
July 5, 2008 at 3:02 pm
9. miss_jesselle says:: nakakasira talaga ng reputation ang mga gossip!
July 7, 2008 at 6:06 pm
10. iloveapplejuice says:: nakakainis ang ganyan, it happened to me one time when i was partnered with a school hearthrob for a prokect and we were always together so we became close and always joked around. a lot of girls approached me asking me if i was his grilfriend! i mean, what the.... binibigyang kulay yung frienship namin until i started avoiding him and he confronted me. pero he was a total gentleman kasi he told me that we shouldn't care about what others think as long as we know the truth. matters went from bad to worse kasi we ignored every comment and just continued being friends until one day, an upper year girl approached me and she was really mad saying that i had no right to be close to him. buti na lang andun yung friends ko and pinagtanggol nila ako kasi nashock ako and i wasn't able to defend myself since i used to be friends with that girl. ayun, nalaman nung guy about the incident and finally we made a decision to not be seen alone together for a while para wala ng manggugulo sakin. eventually natanggap din nila na friends lang kami when he got a girlfriend.
July 7, 2008 at 8:50 pm
11. LadIe LyIanE says:: har! we cant resist not to gossip ithink wer born havin dat hahaha dis but da only thing is dat everything we sayz should be da truth...hehehe
July 9, 2008 at 12:42 am
12. SaSSy giRl says:: I like gossiping about other people but I hate it when they gossip about me and they better get ready when I find out that the gossip came from them because I say stuff so BAD I HURT other people's feelings BADLY :(
September 8, 2008 at 10:53 pm

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