-gate [Re: Random Note for 2014 WOTY: #2]

[Joel S. Berson]

"gate" for the GWB scandal has an added resonance -- one (moi) sees
the event as narrowing the gates (lanes) to the bridge.

Joel

At 1/10/2014 11:28 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>News media are communicating to people who often are not paying full
>attention. The -gate suffix creates a single word describing a scandal.
>When you hear it, or even half hear it, you know what is being talked or
>written about. It leads to efficient communication. Aesthetically one may
>hate it, but it is hard to argue with its effectiveness.
>
>DanG
>
>
>On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 11:17 AM, Christopher Philippo <toff at mac.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Christopher Philippo <toff at MAC.COM>
> > Subject:      -gate [Re: Random Note for 2014 WOTY: #2]
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 1/10/2014 09:15 AM, David Barnhart wrote: "Spotted on the NPR news
> > site: bridgegate"
> >
> > Why do people who work in the so-called "news" business do that?  What
> > does it add or accomplish?
> >
> > "The -GATE construction' - Barry from Pinckney, Mich. says he is tired of
> > hearing of all of the -gate words being created in Washington, D.C. and
> > elsewhere. Examples include: Monica-gate, Zipper-gate, Campaign-gate,
> > File-gate, ad nauseam. Canadians had Pepper-gate.' (Sent via cellular phone
> > through David Newman's Show on WJR in Detroit.). 'We have long since
> > achieved over-use-gate,' says Michele Utterson of Drummond Island."
> > "Banished Words 1999." Lake Superior State University.
> > http://www.lssu.edu/banished/archive/1999.php
> >
> > Christopher K. Philippo
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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