Present continuous and trending

...

Joey and Gaynor drive Orchard Road.

Joey: Auction. Saturday.

Gaynor: Bet it’ll go.

Joey: Bet it doesn’t, too.

Gaynor: Mainlanders. Some mainlander will grab it. Just like that bank building in Hong Kong last month.

Joey: Hmm. They aren’t snapping up everything.

Gaynor: They’re everywhere. They’re buying properties in Hong Kong and I hear they’re buying properties here in Singapore.

Joey: You’re using the present continuous again. You’re always doing that. Makes it look like a trend.

Gaynor: What should I say?

Joey: You should say, “Some mainlander bought the bank building last month.” Leave it at that. Simple past. One case doesn’t prove a trend.

Gaynor: But it is a trend.

Joey: Got another example?

Gaynor: Well, there’s… umm.

Joey: No trend? Only one case? Rest is hearsay? Simple past is what you use.

Gaynor: Pedant.

______________

Voice-over

Joey has a point. Unattributed source + Verb-ing = unsubstantiated rumor.

But Gaynor also has a point. The unfelt earthquake far away under the sea can arrive suddenly as a tsunami.

...

Overheard

Voices of two silhouetted figures down a corridor are faintly heard.
...

Taller: There was a rumor, don't know how true it is, think I read it in Forbes, that Steve has pancreatic cancer.

Shorter: No! He still bounces on stage and does his rock star thing launching new products.

Taller: Some say he hasn't been looking well but the PR division keeps saying he's fine.

Shorter: If it were true, and it's a big if, since people that rich have access to the best medical resources, and he, let's say, withdrew from the company, think what it'd do to the stock value.

Taller: It's all just conjecture. What would happen if word got around that you had something like that?

Shorter: I'd be fired and the company stock would rise.

___________
Voiceover
People hedge more when reporting a rumor. Qualifying phrases like "...don't know how true it is..." "...it's a big if..." protect the speaker from being scoffed at or even challenged with a supplementary rumor. And the future however it may turn out.
...