more -gates

[Garson O'Toole]

A larger excerpt is needed to show more context for the earliest cites
of -the gate suffix in the OED . There are three different early
cites.

[Begin excerpt]

-gate, comb. Form

A terminal element denoting an actual or alleged scandal (and usually
an attempted cover-up), in some way comparable with the Watergate
scandal of 1972. Appended to:

1. The name of the place where such a scandal (allegedly) occurred, or
that of a place in some way associated with the scandal, as
Dallasgate, Hollywoodgate, Irangate, Koreagate, etc.

1973   National Lampoon Aug. 27/2   There have been persistent rumors
in Russia of a vast scandal.‥ Implicated in ‘the Volgagate’ are a
group of liberal officials.


2. The proper name, nickname, etc., of a person or organization
implicated in the scandal, as Billygate, Floodgate, Totegate, etc.

1975   Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Apr. 1/6 (heading)    Motorgate: how a
floating corpse led to a fraud inquiry and ousters by GM.


3. A common noun (or occas. another part of speech) that specifies the
commodity, activity, etc., at the centre of the scandal.

1973   Saturday Rev. World (U.S.) 20 Nov. 45/1   Inevitably, the
brouhaha of Bordeaux became known as Wine-gate.

[End excerpt]

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 11:41 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: more -gates
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Larry Sheldon
>> Do we have a gate=gate here?
>
> The cliche use of the suffix -gate is perhaps worthy of a scandal
> label: gate-gate. I was sidetracked while looking for "gate-gate" by
> an interesting claim about "winegate" in the following article:
>
> San Francisco Chronicle
> Will 'gate-gate' ever cease?
> by John Diaz
> Sunday, July 25, 2010
>
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/24/IN921EFO31.DTL
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The first use of the "gate" suffix as a designation for scandal was
> believed to be "Winegate," which involved the adulteration of Bordeaux
> wines in France.
>
> After that, the floodgates were open, even before "Floodgate," a 1978
> corruption scandal involving Rep. Daniel Flood, a Pennsylvania
> Democrat.
>
> The late William Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter who became an
> erudite editorial observer of politics and language, was widely
> credited for elevating the gate suffix into popular lexicon. In
> "Safire's Political Dictionary," he readily credits himself with
> dubbing "Koreagate" (1975, an influence-peddling scandal involving 10
> House Democrats) and "Applegate" (1977, in which New York City Mayor
> Abe Beame was accused of suppressing a Securities and Exchange
> Commission report on the city's dire finances).
> [End excerpt]
>
> The OED has the -gate suffix with a first cite in 1973. LH mentioned
> the element of a cover-up, and the OED also alludes to this aspect of
> a scandal.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
>
> -gate, comb. form
>
> Etymology: Â Part of the name Watergate: see note s.v. Watergate n.3
> orig. and chiefly U.S.
>
> A terminal element denoting an actual or alleged scandal (and usually
> an attempted cover-up), in some way comparable with the Watergate
> scandal of 1972. Appended to:
>
> Â 1. The name of the place where such a scandal (allegedly) occurred,
> or that of a place in some way associated with the scandal, as
> Dallasgate, Hollywoodgate, Irangate, Koreagate, etc.
>
> 1973 Â  National Lampoon Aug. 27/2 Â  There have been persistent rumors
> in Russia of a vast scandal.‥ Implicated in ‘the Volgagate’ are a
> group of liberal officials.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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