The word 谣言 (yáoyán), meaning "rumor" or "false report", is formed through the meaningful combination of two characters. The first part, 谣 (yáo), originally referred to a folk ballad or song, particularly one without a known author, thus carrying a sense of an unverified story passed from person to person. The second part, 言 (yán), simply means "speech" or "words". Together, they create the conceptual image of "unofficial words that circulate like a folk song", words without a clear source that are spread and reshaped through public telling, perfectly encapsulating the nature of a rumor.