This makes sense since the water cooler is the perfect place to catch “the scuttlebutt” but where did the term scuttlebutt as a water cooler come from?Īmong other things in sailing ship times, a “butt” was a 126 gallon cask often used for storing fresh water aboard ships. The direct origin and even now in the navy, a scuttlebutt is a water cooler or water fountain.
These days “scuttlebutt” means rumors and gossip.
