-gate news

The libfix -gate seems to be irresistible, trotted out for all sorts of public fusses; discussion here. Recent example, reported by Victor Steinbok on ADS-L:

According to MediaBistro, there’s now yet another -gate. Newly crowned NYC Mayor [Bill de Blasio] was caught on camera eating pizza with a fork, which is sacrilege in NYC. Appropriately, the affair has been dubbed “forkgate”, lack of coverup notwithstanding…

Like most -gate formations, this will surely be short-lived. Then Joel Berson suggested on ADS-L that Gate-gate is likely to come upon us,

for the scandalous way in which the former Secretary of Defense [Gates] has dissed the present VPOTUS

Previously coined for a silly British scandal involving David Cameron, detailed in 2012 here (among other places).

And then Larry Horn chimed in with some overlap portmanteaus involving -gate:

two of my fave combo-gates, Underwatergate (the blowing up of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior by, as it turned out, agents of the French government) and Pearlygate (one or maybe more of the televangelist brouhahas).  I may be missing a couple…oh, right, Whitewatergate.  Love those overlaps.

4 Responses to “-gate news”

  1. arnold zwicky Says:

    And of course Bridgegate, involving Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge.

  2. John Says:

    As whenever this suffix comes up, I feel compelled to share this Mitchell & Webb sketch:

    • arnold zwicky Says:

      For non-British readers, from this Wikipedia site:

      Mitchell and Webb are a British comedy double act, composed of David Mitchell (born 14 July 1974) and Robert Webb (born 29 September 1972). They are best known for starring in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show and their award-winning sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look.

  3. Foodname Ephemera | Joseph Pentangelo Says:

    […] Under this moniker, the so-called salad’s popularity grew to the point that it is still a well-known dessert in the midwest. This naming convention was also a bit of a trend, with the now-forgotten Watergate Cake, which shared many ingredients, being introduced at about the same time. (The scandal had a big impact on America’s collective consciousness; -gate is also one of today’s most productive libfixes.) […]

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