Murmuring

Murmuring.—Murmuring is the expression of unjust discontent or complaint by inarticulate sounds or by secret words.

(a) It is unjust, and so it does not differ essentially from the sins of speech given above. If it is an injustice to honor, it is reducible to contumely; if it is an injury to fame, it pertains to defamation, etc. The injustice of murmuring results either from the thing complained of (e.g., a child murmurs against the just orders of its parents), or from the manner of the complaint (e.g., a subordinate complains against an unjust order, but angrily, contemptuously, or uselessly).

(b) It is made by inarticulate sounds (e.g., by whistling, grunting), or by secret words (e.g., in whispered, inaudible manner). This is an accidental difference between murmuring and other vocal sins.