Backbiting

Such gossip is common in human society as people seek to divert blame and establish their place in the dominance hierarchy.

Leaders of the Baháʼí Faith condemned it as the worst of sins as it destroyed the 'life of the soul' and provoked divine wrath.

[8] Islam considers ghibah, or backbiting, to be a major sin and the Qur'an compares it to the abhorrent act of eating the flesh of one's dead brother.

in the 19th century, Charlotte Elizabeth wrote an account of backbiting for the moral education of children in places such as Sunday school.

[12] Gordon Brown notoriously spoke of Gillian Duffy as being a "sort of bigoted woman" after conversing with her pleasantly during his 2010 election campaign.