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Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
A group of (usually) women whose sole purpose in life seems to be gossiping about other people, since that's all they do whenever they are on screen, and you never hear any mention of what they might be doing when off-screen.
Rarely used for exposition, although they can be if the author so desires. They will say mean things about different characters (and each other when they're apart), and if they get bored may come into the foreground and mess with the main characters' lives so that their gossip can be more interesting. They may be responsible for Gossip Evolution. In a Close Knit Community, they may account for the way everyone knows about everyone else.
Usually almost completely the same in terms of personality, so that their lines are completely interchangeable. The only reason that there's more than one is so they have somebody to talk to. Often they won't be named, or only the leader will be named.
Chances are, if your work is set in Victorian times, these characters will show up. Are often members of a Girl Posse, if the action is set in a high school. Sometimes serve as a Greek Chorus. Compare Those Two Guys and Chatty Hairdresser.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Comics
- One Astro City story is about an alien spy disguised as a human, gathering information on humanity in preparation for a full-scale invasion. He slowly begins to believe humanity is Not so Different from his own species, and is prepared to call off the invasion, but the group of Gossipy Hens he has to live near bug him to the point where he changes his mind and tells his superiors to proceed with the invasion.
- The classic horror comic "Mister Mystery" gives us a particularly nasty trio in the appropriately titled "The Gossips!"
 . This being a horror comic, the title gossips get a gory karmic death at the end.
Film
Literature
- Petunia Dursley of Harry Potter fame is pretty much one of these without a second to gossip at.
- A bunch of different characters in Jane Austen novels.
- In Discworld, Vimes refers to these as "interchangeable Emmas". They also showed up at Susan's boarding school.
- The less-developed characters among the UU wizards (i.e. the Chair, Lecturer and Wrangler) sometimes act like Gossipy Roosters, as their non-stop nattering, bickering, and reminiscing provides a sort of background accompaniment to whatever practical task Ridcully and Ponder are working on (or whatever the Dean and Bursar are messing up).
- Gone with the Wind has quite a few of these, with Mrs. Merriwhether, Mrs. Meade and Mrs. Elsing filling the main part of the hens. However, a lot of other characters in the book can be considered gossipy hens as well, including Scarlett and Melanie.
- Hans Christian Andersen's story "It's Perfectly True" has literal hens, though other animals who hang around the henhouses, including owls and pigeons, play their part in the Gossip Evolution.
- A group of these gets a character to tell the story of Their Eyes Were Watching God to a friend.
- Various female characters from L. M. Montgomery; for example, the women at the Ladies' Aid quilting bee in Anne of Ingleside.
- Agatha Christie's Murder At The Vicarage had three old ladies (the "old pussies") who seemed like this. One of them turned out to be sharper than she looked - her name? Miss Jane Marple.
- In Brian Aldiss' Non-Stop, Roy encounters a group of Gossipy Hens in Quarters. The fragmented bits of sniping he overhears are part of a breakthrough he has regarding the inward-turned and purposeless nature of his community and his need to go on his Hero's Journey.
- There's an old (and rather sexist) nursery rhyme about the "gossips of the village" sitting around sipping tea and ignoring everything but their gab session. Know what that means?
- The above mentioned old ladies that wonder if Meg is a Gold Digger in training in Little Women. It doesn't happen in the Christmas Party, though, but in the Moffat's household; Meg overhears them and manages to pull herself together a bit, but breaks down crying when in bed.
- The Puritans, especially the women, in the first few chapters of The Scarlet Letter.
- Pretty much everyone in the small town near to Heidi and her grandpa's cabin. In fact, some adaptations have one tagging along Aunt Dete for a while so she can go Mr. Exposition mode and explain both why is the old man living alone up there and why she's taking Heidi to live with him.
- The 'nestie bodies' in The House With The Green Shutters, a very rare very vicious all-male example.
- The society ladies of N____ in Dead Souls, especially those two in chapter #9.
Live Action TV
Music
- Hilariously and mercilessly parodied in the song "La Vieja Julia" ("Old woman Julia") by the Chilean group Los Hijos de Putre. The title is also a Punny Name, since "la vieja Julia" sounds kinda like "la vieja culiá", which is a... very rude slang expression to refer to old women in Chile, alluding to how the narrator hates the old lady named Julia because she meddles in everything, talks shit about everyone and acts double-faced.
- In the video for Taylor Swift's "White Horse", she learns about her boyfriend's infidelity through her best friend.
- Two coworkers whisper about her in the cafeteria in the "Ours" music video.
Newspaper Comics
- The "posse" in the comic strip Zits.
- Susanita from Mafalda is a Hen in training. When she's not rambling about the many sons she'll have when she grows up, of course.
- To make things worse (or funnier), Susanita's House Wife mother is exactly the same way. So much that even Susanita gets embarrassed when she spreads gossip in front of her and her friends.
'Mrs. Chirusi (talking on the phone when the kids are playing): "Elvira told me all about Mecha and her husband, and I swear that looking back on it's fascina~ting!"
Kids *stop playing and stare at her*
Susanita: *looks like she wants to die*
Theater
Video Games
- There are two old women who, along with a daughter, do this in Shadow Of Destiny.
- Coco in Riviera: The Promised Land has dialogue consisting almost entirely of gossip about Fia and Lina. One of the voiced dramas features a mixed-gender group gossiping about Malice's parents.
- The trio of housewives in Harvest Moon: [More] Friends of Mineral Town get together every day just to gossip.
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker gives us Pompie and Vera, who seem to love gossiping about anything, particularly the local photographer. Also, there are two little girls who carry on in the same manner.
Web Comics
Web Original
- The NPC student body of Dept Heaven Apocrypha tend to act this way at times. Seth, Meria, and Cierra got the worst of it, though...
- The Gmod Idiot Box parodies this in Episode 5, with the two women in the store and later the one with her cell phone, who it seems the only sound they can make is chicken-clucking noises. They continue to do this even after their "conversation" partner is gone.
Western Animation
Real Life
- Hair salons are like a gossip congregation.
- High School girls, especially if they're part of a Girl Posse.
- There are numerous WWII era propaganda posters about how careless gossiping may cause deaths of soldiers because of spies. Almost all the posters depict women.
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