Gossip though I may be, I can keep secrets pretty well.  My other gossipy friends understand the rules when it comes to secrets.  There are a couple people in my circle who hear most everything unless it comes along with "Do not tell anyone, not even [insert person's name]".  Non-gossips will generally add that "don't tell anyone" and I always respect that. 

I don't even necessarily need the don't tell to understand when a secret is really a secret...  and some secrets are kept from *everyone*, regardless of whether they know the person or are safe.  Some things are too private to ever be disclosed, even in "this friend of mine" vagaries.  I have a lot of respect for secrets...  well, the secrets of other people, anyway.

My own secrets are a totally different story.

Things that I consider secrets stay with me for a long, long time.  I don't tell *anyone* the things that I consider "secrets" when they pertain to me.  As a result, they build up forever, bubbling, longing to be told, to be heard.  When I finally do start telling them, I tell them to everyone, starting off with "can you keep a secret?" and hoping against hope that they won't tell anyone else before I have a chance to.