What does 유언비어 (流言蜚語) literally mean?

 ANSWER: flowing (流) talk (言) [with] cockroach (蜚) words (語)

My dictionary defines the Sino-Korean idiom 유언비어 (流言蜚語) as "a groundless rumor," but the phrase literally means "flowing (流) talk (言) [with] cockroach (蜚) words (語)."

The Chinese character 蜚 (비) means "cockroach," but my Chinese character dictionary says that it can also mean "to fly," so 유언비어 (流言蜚語) could also literally translate as "flowing (流) talk (言) [and] flying (蜚) words (語)," I guess, but I think someone along the way just confused the Chinese character for "cockroach" (蜚 비) with the Chinese character for "to fly" (飛 비) since they both have the same pronunciation.

I like the translation "cockroach words" more than "flying words," and I think I will start referring to "groundless rumors" as "cockroach talk."

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary