Gossip is called gossip because it’s not always the truth.

The line plays on the word “gossip” to make a cautionary point: what circulates socially as rumor is often unverified, distorted, or selectively framed, and therefore should not be treated as reliable truth. It implicitly critiques celebrity and tabloid culture, where narratives can harden into “facts” through repetition rather than evidence. The aphoristic phrasing encourages skepticism and restraint—both in believing what one hears and in passing it along—because gossip’s social function (entertainment, bonding, status) can conflict with accuracy and fairness to the people discussed.