by word of mouth

by word of mouth

Through the verbal sharing of information. A: "How did you hear about our bakery?" B: "Oh, by word of mouth. My dad told me about it." We don't have the budget for a big marketing campaign, so we'll just have to hope that buzz about our shop gets spread by word of mouth.
See also: by, mouth, of, word
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

by word of mouth

by speaking rather than writing. I learned about it by word of mouth. I need it in writing. I don't trust things I hear about by word of mouth.
See also: by, mouth, of, word
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

word of mouth, by

Orally, by one person telling another, as in They don't advertise; they get all their customers by word of mouth. [Mid-1500s]
See also: by, of, word
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

by ˌword of ˈmouth

in spoken, not written, words: The news spread by word of mouth.
‘By word of mouse’ (= a computer mouse) is a humorous version of this that refers to communication by email, etc.
See also: by, mouth, of, word
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

word of mouth, by

Orally. This phrase dates from the sixteenth century and persists to the present, though simply “orally” would be more direct. “A little message unto hir by worde of mouth,” wrote Nicholas Udall in Ralph Roister Doister (ca. 1553), presumably differentiating it from a written message.
See also: by, of, word
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • word of mouth, by
  • word of mouth
  • have an argument
  • have an argument (with someone)
  • render
  • render (something) in (something)
  • render (something) into (something)
  • render in
  • rendering
  • go in with (someone)
References in classic literature
Has either of them confided anything to you by word of mouth?"
Matthew would have made a good teacher for he systematises and collects the teachings of Jesus to make them easier to memorise in an age when such things had to be passed on by word of mouth.
His client base started with family and friends before branching off into advertising flyers stuffed into homeowner mailboxes, "but mostly it was by word of mouth."
1 Japanese mobile portal site, and they've done it all by word of mouth.
By word of mouth alone, Search400 just took off." It now has a base of 20,000 users.
SourceForge's user base has grown steadily at a rate of about 25 percent per week during the initial test period, largely by word of mouth.