-gate
English
[edit]
Etymology 1
[edit]Back-formation from Watergate, an American political scandal from 1972–1974 which led to resignation of president Richard Nixon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the suffix first appeared in a 1973 article in the National Lampoon magazine which referenced a rumoured "Volgagate".[1] The suffix was promoted by New York Times columnist William Safire, who coined several -gate words beginning in 1974.
Suffix
[edit]-gate (proper noun-forming suffix)
- Combined with a relevant place, person, activity, etc. to form the names of scandals.
- 2014 January 15, Alex Seitz-Wald, “How to Name a Scandal: What is a '- Gate' and What Is a '-Ghazi'?”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 April 2021:
- "-Ghazi" also shares convenient linguistic parallels with "-gate." They're both scandals that typify their category; they're both location names; they both start with the letter "g"; and they are both short enough to be used in headlines and attached to nouns identifying the scandal.
- 2022 March 30, Tatum Hunter, “How to leave a bad online review without being a jerk”, in The Washington Post[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 March 2022:
- Back in college, [Maddi] Filliater said she tweeted at a local sandwich shop about some alleged brown lettuce, and the business responded angrily: Why didn't she bring up the problem in person instead of attacking them on the Internet? Her friends refer to the incident as "LettuceGate."
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]Translations
[edit]Noun
[edit]-gate (plural -gates)
- (informal) A scandal.
- 2014 January 15, Alex Seitz-Wald, “How to Name a Scandal: What is a '- Gate' and What Is a '-Ghazi'?”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic[3], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 April 2021:
- The George Washington Bridge lane closings started as a "-ghazi" and then became a "-gate." […] The Obama era is chock full of "-ghazis"—Solyndraghazi, ObamaPhoneghazi, NewBlackPanthersghazi, Umbrellaghazi, and of course Benghazi—but few "-gates" (Snowdengate and Websitegate, come to mind).
See also
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]From the plural of Old English ġeat (specifically gatu). The reduced pronunciation /-ɡət/ reflects the regular phonological development, as the unstressed suffix did not undergo Middle English open‐syllable lengthening (remaining /-ɡatə/). The full pronunciation /-ɡeɪt/ results from secondary stress or analogy with the independent noun gate.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-gate (proper noun-forming suffix)
- Used to form place names.
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ “gate, combform.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Further reading
[edit]- “-gate”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “-gate”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “-gate”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-gate m (noun-forming suffix, plural -gates)
- -gate (forms names of scandals)
- 2012 June 8, “Up & Down”, in Grazia:
- C'est un quasi «currygate» qu'a provoqué Kim en confessant son dégoût de la nourriture indienne.
- Kim Kardashian triggered a virtual ‘currygate’ by confessing her dislike of Indian food.
Derived terms
[edit]German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-gate n
- -gate (forms names of scandals)
Derived terms
[edit]- English back-formations
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English proper noun-forming suffixes
- English uncountable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English informal terms
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French suffixes
- French noun-forming suffixes
- French countable suffixes
- French masculine suffixes
- French terms with quotations
- German terms borrowed from English
- German terms derived from English
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German suffixes
- German noun-forming suffixes
- German neuter suffixes
