By M.C. Holbrook, Catholic Exchange - Muttering is that form of complaining often used when one is too cowardly to vocalize one’s grievance to the person, the “cause” of the complaint. Essentially, we talk about this person behind his back, but in the case of muttering, the person to whom we talk is ourselves. While this may sound harmless enough, it is still a form of gossip and calumny, and if left unchecked, has the potential to become a far worse transgression than speaking our opinions aloud to others.