through the grapevine

through the grapevine

Through or via an informal means of communication or information, especially gossip. There is always some absurd rumor or piece of misinformation through the grapevine at work, but I try to just tune most of that out. I heard through the grapevine that John is planning to propose to Samantha next week!
See also: grapevine, through
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

on/through the ˈgrapevine

by talking in an informal way to other people: I heard on the grapevine that you’re leaving.
See also: grapevine, on, through
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • on the grapevine
  • on/through the grapevine
  • jungle telegraph
  • grapevine
  • hear (something) on the grapevine
  • hear (something) through the grapevine
  • hear something on the grapevine
  • hear something through the grapevine
  • hear (something) on the jungle telegraph
  • latrinogram
References in classic literature
I dried myself in the sun, and dressed slowly, reluctant to leave that green enclosure where the sunlight flickered so bright through the grapevine leaves and the woodpecker hammered away in the crooked elm that trailed out over the water.
My Antonia
Opinion leaders devour formal communication (see "Unveiling Grapevine Conversations," page 25), making them ideal partners for transforming workplace conversations through the grapevine.
Carry on the conversation: helping employees make sense of what happens at work
"Sometimes the best information comes through the grapevine. You just have to manage grapevine issues in a responsible way."
Watch Your Mouth
Keep your ear open to the grapevine, and when the facts aren't right, send correct facts back through the grapevine. Since everyone will say you better pay attention to organizational politics, but it's hard to get them to say exactly what it is, I asked several physician executives the following questions:
Much of the work gets done through the functional organization, through the grapevine, through the coffee klatches, the groups that eat together.
I was becoming increasingly aware through the grapevine of small groups that were focused in their intent to shoot down our 100-year celebration.
Organizational politics: did you hear?
Seldom does reading a scholarly book become a page-turning adventure, but that is what happened for me with Patricia Turner's I Heart It Through the Grapevine, a study of rumor in African American communities.
Few scholars have the opportunity to produce truly groundbreaking work, but Turner's I Heard It Through the Grapevine belongs in this category.
I Heard it Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture
You also stand the chance of running into the same fate as Marvin Gaye in his famous song "I Heard it Through the Grapevine -- you'll lose your lover [employees] to another.
Tell it to the grapevine: to get the word out, no other medium communicates news more quickly
* Correct any misunderstanding by putting the facts back through the grapevine.
Seven deadly assumptions for new physician managers