Dictionary

bush telegraph en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) A system used by undeveloped societies in remote regions for communication over long distances, such as drum sounds, word-of-mouth relay, or smoke signals.
   • When I was born, family and friends came from all over, thanks to the bush telegraph. There were very few telephones where I grew up, so my father mentioned my birth to someone at the market. And that woman told a man who was delivering rice to a place up the road. He told someone there, who was taking a herd of cattle south, toward the villages. And pretty soon the news of my birth had spread far and wide. 2007, "From Sudan to supermodel stardom," msnbc.com, 28 Aug. (retrieved 19 Sep. 2008)
2. (idiomatic) A gossip network.
   • I suppose you've received information, by bush-telegraph, that that third assistant understrapper and ex-sailorman at Tulagi is going to deport me as an undesirable immigrant. 1911, Jack London, chapter 9, in Adventure:

Forms

Synonyms

jungle telegraph (communication system used by undeveloped societies) · rumor mill (gossip network) · jungle telegraph (gossip network) · grapevine (gossip network)