Long graceful ropes of ivy and grapevine and smilax were hung everywhere, in looping festoons on the walls, draped above the windows, twined in scallops all over the brightly colored cheesecloth booths.
A large number of the telegraph lines were going in all directions, as crooked as the vines that grapes grow on. So was born the expression, by the grapevine.
大量电报线伸展向各个方向,就像葡萄生长的那样弯曲。所以这个表达方式就诞生了,by the grapevine。