Grapevine来源：www.examda.com

　　The process through which information gets spread unofficially throughout the company. Can be word of mouth, email, or even a hand-written piece of paper. In most companies, news, rumors, gossip and information can spread to hundreds or thousands of employees in a very short time.

　　Brown-nosing/kissing up/sucking up

　　Being overly friendly with the boss, or upper management, or anybody with some power or control, with the intent of getting favors from them, such as promotions, raises, bonuses, etc. In many cases, it is possible that there are other employees who merit these advantages more than the brown-noser.

　　Back-biting

　   Malicious talk that undermines someone's reputation or unfairly criticizes someone's work when they're not around.

　　Gossip

　　Loose talk to disclose something, often of questionable veracity, that is better kept to oneself. Can involve talking about an individual, a group, company issues. Can be business-related or personal.

　　Rumors

　　Similar to gossip, but usually more based on some factual element or half-truth.

　　Rumor mongering

　　Spreading a rumor with malicious intent.

　　Peer-to-peer

　　Gossip, rumors, information-spreading, etc. that takes place among employees of the same rank.

　　Cliques

　　Group of employees who stick together bound by common beliefs, interests, and/or personalities. They are usually resistant to allowing outsiders in who they feel are different from them.

　　Kiss a lot of frogs

　　Colloquial term used to describe an upwardly ambitious and aggressive person who wants to climb the ladder by having questionable relationships.

　　Scandal

　　Involves something damaging to the company or staff that was previously hidden and comes to light.