Rumour; gossip:the scuttlebutt had it that he was a government spy...
There's been some scuttlebutt that the Enterprise is going to be involved in something pretty big, but that's all it is.
This is fodder for schoolyard scuttlebutt, a ‘guaranteed to be repeated until you're sick of it’ situation that will definitely work your last nerve.
I heard rumors that you had returned, Capitan Hinds, but I thought it was mere scuttlebutt.
Origin
Early 19th century (denoting a water butt on the deck of a ship, providing drinking water): from scuttled butt. Sailors would traditionally exchange gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink of water.