<
https://theconversation.com/watergate-at-50-the-burglary-that-launched-a-thousand-scandals-185030>
"One of the more curious legacies of the Watergate scandal is so obvious that
we barely notice it.
Watergate was the name of the Washington office complex where five men – later
revealed to be working on behalf of US president Richard Nixon’s administration
– were discovered burgling the Democratic Party’s national headquarters. Their
arrest on June 17 1972 – 50 years ago today – not only led eventually to
Nixon’s resignation but also fuelled an international tendency to add “-gate”
to anything that looks scandalous.
The fashion was started by
New York Times columnist William Safire, a former
Nixon speechwriter, apparently to defend his former boss by showing just how
prevalent scandals were. Early cases included Koreagate (following revelations
of secret Korean donations to congressional candidates in the 1976 elections)
and Billygate (named after president Jimmy Carter’s wayward younger brother,
whose high-profile antics included promoting a new beer, Billybeer, and
receiving money from the Libyan government) and Lancegate (sparked by the
dubious business affairs of Carter cabinet member Bert Lance).
Fifty years later, the suffix is as popular as ever. When Will Smith dashed on
stage and slapped MC Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife at this year’s
Academy Awards, the incident was immediately labelled Slapgate.
More seriously, when British prime minister Boris Johnston and his colleagues
defied government bans on social gatherings designed to curb the spread of
COVID, the term Partygate was quickly, and damagingly, coined by the media."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
