Question:
Is it lashon hora to unintentionally tell Reuven about a negative experience you had with Shimon while Reuven never heard of Shimon before and has forgotten Shimons name the next hour? All Reuven is left with is a story of negative experience but no name
Answer:
Hello,
The Chofetz Chaim says that if we say the name of the person it is considered lashon hora. He does not differentiate whether the person who hears it knows the person or not. It might not be as bad as when the person hearing it actually know the person, nevertheless it is still considered lashon hora.
Best wishes
Is the aveirah partially fixed once the person who heard the negative words forgets the name of the person who it was said about?
Lashon hora essentially is a mitzva bein adom lechaveiro, and therefore the person would have to do regular teshuva to Hashem and ask the person spoken about mechila. Since the person spoken about was not negatively affected, as the person who heard it forgot his identity, therefore there is no need to ask mechila. However teshuva bein adon lamokom would still have to be done.
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