List of scandals with "-gate" suffix

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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 referred to some social and political scandals by adding the suffix "-gate" to one of the key words used to describe it. This new label has sometimes stuck but often a new name is used. The process is known as -gate construction.^[1]

The first such naming after "Watergate" was the French "Winegate". Wine being similar to water in composition, it was an easy pun to make. This set a structural precedent in time for "Koreagate".

[edit] Widely recognized scandals with a -gate suffix

• Angolagate (Mitterand-Pasqua affair), about arms sales to the Government of Angola by the Government of France in the 1990s.
• Baftagate — Controversy surrounding votes at the 1991 BAFTA television awards.^[2]
• Bandargate — A political scandal in Bahrain surrounding attempts by government officials to rig the parliamentary elections and politically marginalize the Shia population.^[3]
• Bertiegate — Controversy surrounding Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland, concerning large cash lodgements made into his bank account while Minister for Finance.^[4]
• Betsygate — Allegations that former United Kingdom Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith had put his wife Betsy on his payroll, without her actually doing any work.^[5]
• Billygate — U.S. President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, legally represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.^[6]
• Bingogate — A scandal that occurred during the administration of former Premier of British Columbia Michael Harcourt, involving the skimming of charity funds for use by the ruling NDP by MLA Dave Stupich (Premier Harcourt was not involved but did resign).^[7]
• Bittergate - In 2008, Presidential nominee Barack Obama was heavily criticized for stating that it's no surprise that people in Pennsylvania "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations"
• Blagogate - In December 2008, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempted to sell the seat of recently elected President Obama to which he had the right of appointment.
• Bonusgate — 2008 political scandal in Pennsylvania involving the alleged use of government funds to finance partisan political campaigns.
• Buttongate — Racing Driver Jenson Button signed a contract to drive for Williams in 2005, while already having signed a contract with BAR for 2005. A legal battle followed, to determine who Button would drive for in 2005. In 2006, Button wanted to stay with BAR. However, during the summer of 2004, Button signed a contract to drive with Williams in 2006. Another legal battle began.
• Camillagate — Tape of a telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles^[8]
• Cheriegate — Concerning Cherie Blair's association with Carole Caplin, and through her to the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.^[9]
• Chicanegate — Regarding McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and his cutting of the Bus Stop-chicane during a fight for race position with Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen to win the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, and the subsequent penalty which stripped Hamilton of the win.^[10]
• Coingate — The mishandling of Ohio government funds entrusted to Republican operatives, involving rare coin funds^[11]
• Colegate — Ashley Cole had an inappropriate and illegal meeting with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon in January 2005.^[12]
• Comet Watergate - the widely hyped but ultimately underwhelming 1973 appearance of Comet Kohoutek
• Contragate — See Irangate.
• Corngate — A political scandal in New Zealand in 2002, which involved the suspected release of genetically modified corn seed in 2000.^[13]
• Debategate — A political scandal in the United States involving the suspicious acquisition of debate preparation documents in 1980.
• Donnygate - A political scandal in Doncaster, UK in 1998 involving local government expense fraud ^[14]
• Dianagate — See Squidgygate.
• Ettehgate - Contrversial house renovation scandal of Nigeria's first female speaker of the House of Representatives Mrs. Patricia Etteh which, led to her resignation.
• Fallagate — 2007 political scandal in Guernsey over an attempt to avoid a political conflict of interest over a hospital extension plan.^[15]
• Fajitagate — In November 2002, three off-duty San Francisco police officers allegedly assaulted two civilians over a bag of steak fajitas (which were mistaken as drugs), leading to the arrest of the chief of police.^[16]
• Fiascogate — Rapper Lupe Fiasco flubbed the lyrics to A Tribe Called Quest's song "Electric Relaxation" during a performance at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.^[17]
• Filegate — The illegal possession and scrutiny of 300-900 FBI files by the Clinton Administration without the file's subject's permission.^[18]
• Flakegate - Photographs of the wedding reception of TV presenter Anthea Turner was used to promote Cadbury's new chocolate bar, Snowflake despite being paid £450,000 by OK! magazine for the exclusive deal of the wedding itself. The publicity stunt was widely critized by tabloid press and took further damage to her career, which have barely recovered since.^[19]
• Gerstmanngate — When Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was fired from his job after giving a poor review to Kane and Lynch. The controversy was whether pressure from Eidos Interactive resulted in his termination.^[20][21]
• Grannygate (1) — A rugby league scandal involving New Zealand players and their family history. The term was most recently invoked in the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations series, in which New Zealand was penalised for fielding former Queensland hooker Nathan Fien.^[22]
• Grannygate (2) - Controversy surrounding Stephen Ireland, a Republic of Ireland football player, who claimed that his grandmother had died in order to secure a leave of absence from international duty.^[23]
• Guzzlegate - Controversy surrounding county leaders in Salt Lake County, Utah allegedly using county SUVs for personal uses, including family vacations. Contributed to the collapse of County Mayor Nancy Workman's re-election campaign.
• Hookergate — The U.S. Cunningham scandal in which defense contractors paid bribes to members of Congress and officials in the U.S. Defense Department, in return for political favors in the form of federal contracts.^[24]
• Hot Coffeegate - Nickname for the Hot Coffee minigame controversy, a series of legal actions taken against the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. ^[25]
• Iguanagate — New South Wales Education Minister John Della Bosca was stood down from the ministry and his wife, Federal MP Belinda Neal, ordered to undergo anger management counselling after they had an argument with staff at the Iguanas Waterfront restaurant on the NSW Central Coast.^[26][27]
• Indygate — Seven Formula One teams pull out of the 2005 United States Grand Prix following tire failures and the inability to come to a compromise with the FIA.^[28]
• Irangate or Contragate (usually referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair) — The Reagan Administration sold weapons to Iran and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.^[29]
• Iraqgate — A Finnish scandal involving the leaking of secret documents to Anneli Jäätteenmäki, which helped bring down Paavo Lipponen's government. Later, it also brought down Jäätteenmäki's government.^[30]
• Katrinagate (also "FEMAgate") — Used by people who disapproved of government response to Hurricane Katrina.^[31]
• Jerezgate — McLaren and Williams was accused by Ferrari of collusion in an effort to prevent Ferrari winning the 1997 European Grand Prix based on tape recording of the radio transmissions made by the two teams^{[32][33][34][35]}
• Jerseygate — A Boston Red Sox jersey placed under a concrete slab in the New Yankee Stadium by a Red Sox fan wishing to put a curse on the New York Yankees was removed in 2008.^[36]
• Kazakhgate — Scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, who paid $78 million in bribes to high-level Kazakhstani officials to secure the oil contracts for Western companies in the 1990s.^[37]
• Liegate - McLaren and Lewis Hamilton misleads the FIA Stewards of the Meeting at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix when they were asked if Lewis Hamilton was told by the team to let Toyota F1 driver Jarno Trulli past again after the former overtook the latter when he went off the road under a Safety Car period.^[38]
• Lipstickgate (1) — The collective controversies in 2007 Renton, Washington city council politics, which included the word BITCH being written in red lipstick on the mayor's bathroom mirror during a city council meeting, four council members being sued for collusion by a fifth, and a heated mayoral race between incumbent Kathy Keolker and Councilman Denis Law.^[39]
• Lipstickgate (2) — The brouhaha associated with Barack Obama's use of the saying "putting lipstick on a pig" during a campaign trail speech.^[40]
• Mabelgate - The name given to the commotion around the dubious past of princess-to-be Mabel Wisse Smit, fiancé of Prince Johan-Friso of the Netherlands
• Macacagate - Virginia Senator George Allen's use of the racial slur "macaca" to refer to S.R. Sidarth, a member of opponent Jim Webb's campaign
• Manuelgate (also "Sachsgate") - The name given to the controversy surrounding the BBC radio presenters Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross after leaving a rude message on the answerphone of veteran actor and Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs for Brand's Radio 2 show; it resulted in thousands of complaints, Brand's resignation from his show, and a 12-week suspension from the BBC for Ross.
• Monicagate, Lewinskygate, Tailgate, or Sexgate ("Zippergate", "the Lewinsky scandal") — named after Monica Lewinsky who had an "inappropriate relationship" with the then-U.S. President Bill Clinton.^[41]
• Monkeygate - the controversy that resulted when Harbhajan Singh, the Indian off-spin bowler, allegedly called Australian batsman Andrew Symonds a "monkey" during the controversial Sydney Test match in January 2008.
• Monstergate — Scandal involving Obama foreign policy advisor Samantha Power, in which she resigned after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster", as reported by The Scotsman newspaper.^[42]
• Muldergate — South African political scandal of the late 1970s in which funds were clandestinely diverted by defence minister Connie Mulder for overseas propaganda in support of the apartheid regime. The scandal brought about the downfall of BJ Vorster.^[43]
• NAFTAgate^[44] — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff Ian Brodie reveals to the media a document leak revealing that the Canadian government should not worry about U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's anti-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rhetoric.^[45]
• Nannygate (1) — Rob Lowe's nanny sues him for sexual harassment.^[46]
• Nannygate (2) — The 2006 scandal over the non-payment of employment taxes of nannies and obligatory television fees by members of the Reinfeldt cabinet.
• Nipplegate — Justin Timberlake reveals Janet Jackson's nipple during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[47]
• Noemigate - Events surrounding Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi relationship with teenager Noemi Letizia
• Officegate - In 2001, First Minister of Scotland Henry McLeish resigned after it was revealed that, while a Westminster Member of Parliament between 1987 and 1998 (before the advent of devolution), he sublet his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife, but failed to ensure that it was registered or that the party issued funds from the income to the House of Commons.^[48]
• Paintergate — Occurred in 2002 when it was revealed that New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark had signed a piece of art which she did not paint.^[49]
• Paragate — Several Colombian congressmen and other politicians indicted for suspicions of colluding with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia and other paramilitary groups involved in Colombia's forty-year armed conflict^[50]
• Partgate — NASCAR team owner Jack Roush accuses fellow team Michael Waltrip Racing of stealing a sway bar at a test session. Waltrip later admits they had the part, but it was taken accidentally.^[51]
• Passportgate — The controversy during the 2008 U.S. presidential primary elections which manifested first as a report that a contractor employee for the U.S. State Department had accessed Barack Obama's passport file. It was subsequently reported that the files of Hillary Clinton and John McCain were also similarly accessed.^{[52][53][54][55][56][57]}
• Paternitygate - a name for the long and unpopular story arc in Home and Away centered around the paternity of Hayley Lawson's baby Noah, which had long been known to the viewers but held back from the possible fathers for the entire pregnancy.
• Peppergate — Pepper-spraying of peace demonstrators by the RCMP during an APEC summit in Vancouver in November 1997.^[58]
• Petrogate — The name given to the press in Peru to the corruption case involving lots of oil, where Norway mining company Discover Petroleum and Peruvian State owned Perupetro are involved, which shocked the policy in Peru, and prompted the resignation of cabinet ministers.
• 'Picturegate — An incident on the 2008 edition of the British reality TV show Big Brother, in which contestants got involved in an argument which ended with one contestant being spat on, resulting in an immediate expulsion of a contestant.^[59]
• Pizzagate — An incident involving a slice of pizza thrown at Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, by an Arsenal player.^[60]
• Plamegate (also "Leakgate", "CIA leak scandal", "Plame affair") — The revealing, by Robert Novak, of the name of Valerie Plame. Lewis Libby allegedly leaked to the media the identity of a covert CIA agent who worked on WMDs, in retaliation for her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, criticizing George W. Bush's justification for the invasion of Iraq.^[61]
• Railgate, also known as the Basi-Virk Affair and the BC Legislature Raids scandal, an ongoing scandal and court proceeding involving influence peddling and abuse of privilege in regard to the sale of BC Rail to Canadian National Railways by the government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell), the raid of government offices in the provincial legislature building on December 28, 2003.^[62]
• Rathergate (also "Memogate") — Faxed copies of forged memos, that were presented on 60 Minutes in 2004, claimed President George W. Bush was derelict in his duty in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972.^[63]
• Reutersgate — The controversy over Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj manipulating news photos with Photoshop.^[64]
• Rinkagate — A 1976 scandal in which Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the UK Liberal Party, lost his position and his seat in Parliament after being accused of involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to murder an alleged former gay lover. Thorpe was eventually acquitted, but the scandal and an unrelated personal illness ended his career. "Rinka" refers to a Great Dane that was killed in the attack.^[65]
• Sexy Photo Gate — The 2008 scandal in Hong Kong concerning illegal distribution over the Internet of intimate and private photographs of actor/singer Edison Chen with various notable celebrities, destroying the showbiz careers of all those involved.^[66]
• Shawinigate — A 1999 Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home riding of Shawinigan, Quebec^[67]
• Shreddergate - 2007 scandal in Tasmanian politics regarding the shredding of a document by Steve Kons which had recommended Simon Cooper be made a magistrate.
• Sirengate — A controversial match in Australian Rules Football when the umpire failed to hear the final siren allowing the St Kilda Football Club to score an extra point and draw the match. 4 days later the AFL overturned the result and awarded Fremantle Football Club as the winners of that match.^[68]
• Slapgate - The scandal involving Harbhajan Singh slapping S. Sreesanth during IPL Season -1 after a match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians
• Smeargate - The scandal brought to light in April 2009 by the publishing of secret 'smear campaign' plans made by members of the UK Labour government aimed at tarnishing several Conservative MPs careers.
• Spygate (1) — See also Stepneygate - The controversy surrounding the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy.^[69]
• Spygate (2) - The scandal involving the New England Patriots' videotaping of the New York Jets defensive signals during a 2007 NFL game.
• Squidgygate/Dianagate — tape of a telephone conversation between Diana, Princess of Wales and a male friend.^[70]
• Stepneygate — Allegations of espionage in Formula One racing carried out by members of the McLaren team.^[71] Also sometimes known as Spygate^[72] (not to be confused with the NFL scandal of the same name).
• Stormontgate — A British spy reveals himself to be spying on Sinn Féin.^[73]
• Suitcasegate — A businessman is caught at a Buenos Aires airport in August 2007 with a suitcase containing $800,000.^[74]
• Strippergate (Canada)
• Strippergate (Seattle) two separate government scandals and criminal investigations
• Strippergate (San Diego) San Diego, California
• Tasergate —aka Troopergate, a reference to the allegation that an Alaskan State Trooper, who was the brother-in-law of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson.^[75]
• Tevezgate - The furore that surrounded footballer Carlos Tevez' transfer to West Ham United, and subsequent move to Manchester United. Tevez, being owned not by a football club, but by a third party, played for West Ham during the 2006/2007 season.
• Tiregate (1) - The scandal that surrounded NASCAR team Owner Jack Roush's accousations that Jeff Gordon's team was illegally soaking their tires to gain a competitive advantage over everybody else in NASCAR. This occurred after a 1998 race at the New Hampshire International Speedway (now the New Hampshire Motor Speedway), where Gordon was able to beat Roush's Mark Martin after only taking two tires (versus four tires) on the final pit stop. No evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Gordon's team was ever found.
• Toallagate — Scandal in Mexico 2001 due to the high cost of bathroom towels (around US$400 for each one) bought for the official residence of the Mexican president.^[76][77]
• Toiletgate — The allegations by Veselin Topalov, the challenger for the 2006 World Chess Championship, that Vladimir Kramnik (reigning champion at that time) was using an Internet connection and computer analysis while visiting the toilet frequently during their 2006 match in Elista, Kalmykia.^[78]
• Travelgate — The 1993 firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration.^[79]
• Troopergate (1) — The allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton.^[80]
• Troopergate (2) — controversy involving New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly ordered the state police to create special records of senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.^[81]
• Troopergate (3) — the controversy surrounding allegations that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee for the United States presidential election, fired the state's public safety commissioner, allegedly for not cooperating with her demand that he dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.^[82] Palin prefers the term "Tasergate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson.^[83]
• Tunagate — A 1985 political scandal in Canada involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna which were sold to the public.^[84]
• Utegate — A June 2009 political incident around the lending of a utility vehicle ("ute") to Australian Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by car dealer John Grant, and subsequent allegations of improper favorable treatment of Grant by the Treasury department.^[85]
• Wardrobegate — The controversy that surrounded the wardrobe expenditures (allegedly $150,000) for Sarah Palin and her family during the 2008 Presidential race.
• Watergate - The original "gate" scandal got its name from the Watergate Hotel where a political related break and enter occurred. The Watergate scandal ultimately led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974.
• Waterkantgate or Watergate an der Waterkant — A major 1987 political scandal in Germany.^[86]
• Wheatgate — Scandal involving AWB Limited payments to the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that were in contravention of the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme^[87]
• Whitewatergate — Better known as the Whitewater controversy.^[88]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Joseph, Brian D.. "Yet More on -gate Words - A Perspective from Abroad". http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/publications/1992gate.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-09-05. 
• al-Lughat, Jabal. ""-gate" suffix reaches Arabic". http://lughat.blogspot.com/2006/06/gate-suffix-reaches-arabic.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-17.