ABSTRACT
Most rumors are first and foremost entertaining: they keep the conversation rolling, obliterate boredom and vacuousness. When a rumor's content doesn't strike very close to home, its lifetime is no longer than that of odd news items one finds in the papers. In that sense, rumors enjoy the same interest cycle as any other daily newspaper news. Exaggeration is common when it comes to rumors. It is not some kind of pathological or aberrant phenomenon, but rather a logical consequence of communication. Rumors can be viewed as a process of commodity exchange. Exaggeration is just as likely to be found in news-in-brief columns in the papers and in the growing number of films about catastrophes. A rumor constitutes testimony concerning a certain context; if the latter changes, the rumor loses its raison d'être and immediately ceases. It no longer has any relevance. At some point the public loses interest and the rumor gives way to silence.
