Martha, how about these:

You should beware (of) the Jabberwock, my son! (apologies!)
It might well be rumored that the diplomat is a spy, but it's not true.

I suppose, in the second sentence, "might" actually applies to "be", 
not "rumor". As it is now used, you're right about "rumor". But I can 
imagine it being extended, e.g. by a political strategist, along the 
lines of

Candidate Smith has been seen on nude beaches? I suppose we could rumor 
that.

Purists might object to such an extension, but we know it happens all 
the time.

In any case, nearly every category is going to have marginal members.

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba

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