-gates- the suffix competition

Scoopit!

A rainy wintry afternoon and Adam having read the papers and posted a couple of items thought that a little bit of levity and fun might be in order.

Now in recent years, ever since the presidency of Richard Nixon many scandals and issues, political and non-political have attracted the -gate suffix.

The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. The word “Watergate” is derived from the Watergate Complex, where the scandal started. On June 17, 1972, agents of the Nixon White House and the Nixon reelection campaign were arrested while breaking into the office of the Democratic National Committee, which at the time was located in the Watergate Complex (a combination of residences and offices located near the Potomac River) in Washington, D.C. Over the course of the next two years, the scandal grew from what initially appeared to be a relatively small and inconsequential event to become one of the biggest political controversies in U.S. history.

Since the Watergate scandal, the media has on occasion referred to social or political scandals by adding the suffix “-gate” to one of the key words used to describe the scandal. This new label has sometimes stuck but often a new name is used. The process is known as -gate construction. ^Wikipedia

In New Zealand we have had a number of -gates, for example:-

• Paintergate
• Doonegate
• Corngate
• Glenngate

are but a few which come to mind.

Since the Peters payments issue arose, Adam has seen reference to Winstongate.

So to lighten people’s spirits and to encourage some creative thinking Adam is launching a competition to find the -gate which best describes this bizarre tale of payments which were never made, but then turn out to have been made.

Entrants can enter multiple times, there is no prize other than to compare your wit with that of others.

Some initial thoughts have included:-

Blustergate

Poohgate

Consulgate

Scoopit!