Hear it on the grapevine means to learn about something unofficially, through rumours passed from one person to another. It is about news that reached you informally: changes at work, someone's wedding or a café closing down. A grapevine is the plant that grapes grow on, and a rumour spreads along a chain of people the way a vine spreads along a fence. Instead of on, you can say through. In writing, the idiom is usually replaced with hear unofficially.
When would you say hear it on the grapevine?
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hear (something) on/through the grapevine; I heard on the grapevine that + clause
- I heard on the grapevine that our manager is leaving in the summer.
- Students heard through the grapevine that the exam had been moved to Monday.
- We heard it on the grapevine before the company made any official announcement.
What changed
First versionI heard from the grapevine that Anna is moving to Berlin.
RevisionI heard on the grapevine that Anna is moving to Berlin.
From feels natural because we hear things from people: I heard it from Anna. But the grapevine here is not a person; it is a chain of conversations, and the idiom uses on or through. The rest of the sentence is correct; only from was replaced.
The similar phrase a little bird told me is said with a smile when you don't want to reveal who told you something: A little bird told me it's your birthday. On the grapevine stresses something else: the news passed through many people and reached you as a rumour.
Your turn
Nobody announced it officially, but everyone in the office had heard ___ that the company was moving.
Show the answer
on the grapevine — Nothing was announced officially, but the whole office knew, so the news spread as a rumour: on the grapevine. From the horse's mouth means directly from the source, for example from the director. If the director had told everyone personally, that would have been an announcement.
Think of some news you heard through rumours rather than officially: at work, at university or from your neighbours. Say what the news was and whether it later turned out to be true.
I heard on the grapevine that our landlord was selling the building, and a month later he told us it was true.
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