Prompt Cast
The Origin and Popularity of the "-gate" Suffix in Scandals
TLDR The "-gate" suffix in scandals originated from the Watergate location near the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in Washington DC. It was popularized by New York Times columnist William Sapphire and has been used in various languages around the world.
Timestamped Summary
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The origin of the "-gate" suffix in scandals comes from the name of the Watergate location near the Chesapeake and Ohio canal.
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The Watergate location near the Chesapeake and Ohio canal became one of the most prime spots of real estate in Washington DC, and in 1960 an Italian firm purchased the land to create a large mixed use complex.
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The Watergate building in Washington DC became famous after the Democratic National Committee offices were broken into by a group authorized by President Richard Nixon, leading to his resignation and the scandal being named "Watergate."
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The use of the suffix "-gate" to indicate a scandal beyond Watergate occurred soon after the Watergate break-in became public.
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The use of the "-gate" suffix to indicate scandals beyond Watergate was popularized by New York Times columnist William Sapphire, who used it frequently in his columns.
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The "-gate" suffix has been used to name scandals beyond Watergate, including Billygate, Contragate, Iraqgate, Nannygate, Gamergate, Donutgate, Deflategate, sandpaper gate, and Partygate.
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The "-gate" suffix has even been used in other languages, such as Argentina, Germany, South Korea, Greece, Hungary, and China, where they use the word "men" for scandals, which means "gate" in Chinese.
