βIt was only hearsay, I never saw him break the window myself.β
Two old English words joined up: hieran, to hear, and saegen, a saying. Put together it literally means a heard saying.
Today, before you repeat anything about a person, start with the words I heard, then say who from. See how often you cannot fill in the name.
π¬ What is something you believed for years just because someone told you?