Meaning & use
around the water cooler
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Used about informal talk between coworkers, especially gossip or rumors shared at work.
Grammar: Comes after verbs like talk, chat, hear, or the noun talk: water-cooler talk.
Patterns
- talk around the water cooler
- what people are saying around the water cooler
- water-cooler talk
The news spread around the water cooler before the official announcement.
A lot of what you hear around the water cooler turns out to be wrong.
She learned about the merger from talk around the water cooler, not from her manager.
phrasefixed phrase
Used literally for the area near a water dispenser in an office, where people stop and chat.
Grammar: Usually follows a verb of place or movement: standing around the water cooler.
Patterns
- stand around the water cooler
- meet around the water cooler
Two interns were standing around the water cooler, comparing schedules.
We ran into each other around the water cooler and ended up talking for twenty minutes.
Common combinations
- talk around the water cooler
- People talk around the water cooler about everything from sports to layoffs.
- water-cooler conversation
- It was just water-cooler conversation, not a formal meeting.
- water-cooler gossip
- Ignore the water-cooler gossip and wait for the official email.
- spread around the water cooler
- The rumor spread around the water cooler within an hour.
- what's being said around the water cooler
- What's being said around the water cooler isn't always reliable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- office gossip
- Names the content of the talk rather than the place and setting where it happens.
- chit-chat
- Means light small talk anywhere; it does not suggest an office setting.
- word on the street
- Refers to public rumor in general, not specifically to workplace talk.
Commonly confused: around the water cooler or watercooler?
around the water cooler vs watercooler
Written as one word, watercooler is mainly the machine itself or an adjective (a watercooler moment); the phrase around the water cooler is the adverbial, informal-talk expression.
Practice
Which sentence uses "around the water cooler" in its most common figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
The figurative sense is informal workplace talk or rumor, as in option 0. The other options use the words only for physical location, which is the literal sense and needs no special meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “around the water cooler”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.