“I heard it through the grapevine”

English idioms and expressions are a great way to make your English sound more advanced but the important thing is to use them correctly, otherwise it would be better not to use them so I’d like to help you use these chunks of language in a way that sounds natural. Today’s post will help you to use ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ in everyday conversation.

What does it mean?

This expression is related to gossip. If you hear some information or news but it didn’t come directly from the source, then you heard it through the grapevine.

It supposedly comes from when people working in the fields collecting grapes would pass gossip along to each other.

How can I use it ‘heard it through the grapevine’ a conversation?

Perhaps one of your colleagues told you that a woman, Kim, who works in your office is pregnant but Kim hasn’t announced her pregnancy or mentioned it to you, so you ‘heard it through the grapevine’.

You tell another colleague the news about Kim’s pregnancy.

Your colleague says: Really?! Did Kim tell you that herself?

You reply: No, I heard it through the grapevine but she definitely looks pregnant so I’m sure it’s true!

Any tricky pronunciation?

heard /hɜːd/ Be careful with this past form of hear. It rhymes with bird!

Related expressions

The opposite would be I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. In other words, the news/gossip came directly from the source.
“Kim’s not pregnant!” You reply “She is, I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth!” Which means Kim told you herself.

Listening challenge

Listen to the famous Marvin Gaye song and see if you can follow the lyrics. Marvin Gaye – I heard it through the grapevine with lyrics Tell me what you think of the song in the comments section below 🙂