Stop Adding "Gate" To The End Of Words, The Scandal Had Nothing To Do With Fucking Water!

[2HF]

Yes, it was called the Watergate Scandal. You know why? 'Cause it happened at the fucking Watergate Hotel! Nobody was outraged about fucking Water!

Did Spygate occur at the Spygate Aquarium? Did Bountygate take place at the Bountygate Childrens Museum and Puppet Emporium? Did Deflategate take place at the Deflategate theme park? Did Gamergate take place at the Gamergate luau for gay, lesbian, and transgender allegiance?

This http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix is ludicrous!

Agree? Disagree? Discuss!

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Yes, it was called the Watergate Scandal. You know why? 'Cause it happened at the fucking Watergate Hotel! Nobody was outraged about fucking Water!

Did Spygate occur at the Spygate Aquarium? Did Bountygate take place at the Bountygate Childrens Museum and Puppet Emporium? Did Deflategate take place at the Deflategate theme park? Did Gamergate take place at the Gamergate luau for gay, lesbian, and transgender allegiance?

This http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix is ludicrous!

Agree? Disagree? Discuss!

What gives you the right to decide what people call scandals? Don't stifle their creative freedom, you tyrant
Also, I'm calling our discussion Gategate

 

[DoPo]

Discussed many a time over the years. Many a jokes about it, too. Like this one

 

[Fappy]

Most outrages/controversies that adopt the "-gate" suffix are usually horrible wastes of time and energy. Look at it this way: does the controversy have "-gate" at the end of it? It does? Well then, that's another non-controversy you don't need to concern yourself with.

Unfortunately people like getting worked up over benign bullshit. If these people spent half as much time fretting over things that actually mattered we'd probably have flying motorcycles by now.

 

[2HF]

Also, I'm calling our discussion Gategate

Damn you! This will not stand! I slap at you with my glove good sir/madam!

 

[Eddie the head]

Unfortunately people like getting worked up over benign bullshit. If these people spent half as much time fretting over things that actually mattered we'd probably have flying motorcycles by now.

You mean like getting worked up over using the suffix gate?

Languages changes if a lot of people start associating meaning to the suffix "gate" then fine. Words only have the meaning we assign them anyway. If you know what the person is trying to convey then why do you care?

 

[Fappy]

Unfortunately people like getting worked up over benign bullshit. If these people spent half as much time fretting over things that actually mattered we'd probably have flying motorcycles by now.

You mean like getting worked up over using the suffix gate?

Languages changes if a lot of people start associating meaning to the suffix "gate" then fine. Words only have the meaning we assign them anyway. If you know what the person is trying to convey then why do you care?

Because it's silly to associate every little nontroversy with one of the country's most well documented and historic scandals. To me, it cheapens Bernstein and Woodward's achievement.

 

[Eddie the head]

Because it's silly to associate every little nontroversy with one of the country's most well documented and historic scandals. To me, it cheapens Bernstein and Woodward's achievement.

It's "silly" so you mean it's slightly annoying? Boo hoo. It's also "silly" for fantasy books to use idioms form history, but they still do it. It's to get something across not to necessarily be accurate. As to you feeling it somehow "cheapens" someone's achievements I got to ask why again? Practically speaking nothing changed.

 

[Fappy]

It's "silly" so you mean it's slightly annoying? Boo hoo.

Uh, okay? What's with the attitude, dude?

It's an opinion, and all you're managing to say about it is that my opinion is dumb. Good job!

It's also "silly" for fantasy books to use idioms form history, but they still do it. It's to get something across not to necessarily be accurate.

Sure, use it has shorthand all you want. I am all for shortcuts in everyday speech. To definitively call the controversy "something-gate" and nothing else though? I think that's taking things a step further.

As to you feeling it somehow "cheapens" someone's achievements I got to ask why again? Practically speaking nothing changed.

It's really not hard to understand my point. You associate something objectively less important (or even downright stupid) with something of actual importance and merit. You're effectively claiming your controversy-of-the-moth is as impactful and relevant as Watergate was, which in the vast majority of cases is patently untrue.

But you're right, this is more a minor annoyance than anything else, so I'll retire the conversation here and now. I'd rather not get into an internet fight over something so pointless.

 

[Tilly]

My favourite variation on this was when the Drug Advisory guy for UK government got sacked (they don't like being told the laws don't reflect the danger of the respective drugs at all). His name was David Nutt. So it came to be known as the Nutt Sack affair. No gates required.

 

[Eddie the head]

It's "silly" so you mean it's slightly annoying? Boo hoo.

Uh, okay? What's with the attitude, dude?

It's an opinion, and all you're managing to say about it is that my opinion is dumb. Good job

Nope I'm calling it inconsequential. The fact you might be slightly annoyed doesn't mean anything. No one is under any obligation to care. The problum is in your court you can continue to be annoyed by it or just let it pass.

It's also "silly" for fantasy books to use idioms form history, but they still do it. It's to get something across not to necessarily be accurate.

Sure, use it has shorthand all you want. I am all for shortcuts in everyday speech. To definitively call the controversy "something-gate" and nothing else though? I think that's taking things a step further.

Why? It's more broad? Less precise? Things like that happen some people aren't precise in there wording. There's no good reason to be that bothered by it.

As to you feeling it somehow "cheapens" someone's achievements I got to ask why again? Practically speaking nothing changed.

It's really not hard to understand my point. You associate something objectively less important (or even downright stupid) with something of actual importance and merit. You're effectively claiming your controversy-of-the-moth is as impactful and relevant as Watergate was, which in the vast majority of cases is patently untrue.

For the sake of argument I guess you could be right. The usage of the suffix could be calculated attempt to lend credibility to a movement that doesn't diverse it. Or much more likely it could have just been a catchy name that was co-opted. Like I said you could be right, but you're making a lot more assumptions about people then I am.

Whatever this appears to be turning into an "ego" thing for both of use. So I'm just going to stop.

 

[Olas]

Who cares where the suffix came from? It's pretty much the colloquial way to name a scandal now and there's nothing wrong with it unless you decide there is. All language has arbitrary origins but once something catches on it starts to transcend it's origins and simply becomes a common word.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

I'm just waiting for the day there's a huge uproar about something commonly associated with the word 'gate'.

The founder of Microsoft entering politics.

A huge flood killing tons of Klan members or something and people taking sides about whether or not it's fine to celebrate natural disasters killing assholes.

I can't think of a third one. IndecisionGate sounds weirdly fitting, somehow.

 

[happyninja42]

Yes, it was called the Watergate Scandal. You know why? 'Cause it happened at the fucking Watergate Hotel! Nobody was outraged about fucking Water!

Well yeah, I mean, who would get outraged if someone is going around fucking water? What would that be? Aqua-erotica?

 

[Fox12]

Also, I'm calling our discussion Gategate

Damn you! This will not stand! I slap at you with my glove good sir/madam!

This is just more evidence that all anti-gategates are hateful, and want to censor free speech on the internet. Tell me, why do you hate freedom?

 

[crypticracer]

"Watergate" was a name, not a description of the scandal itself. What does "Gate" mean? There are parts of the world that call vampires Draculas,so, yes, it happens, but it's still stupid because you end up with Dracula the dracula.

I'm also confused about Gamergate's name. Is it the name of the scandal or the movement... if it's both, then wouldn't being pro-Gamergate mean you were for what happened?

 

[theSovietConnection]

I'm just waiting for the day there's a huge uproar about something commonly associated with the word 'gate'.

OT, I don't know. I don't really think it does anything to cheapen what Bernstein and Woodward had done. I think it shows that what they did had such an effect, that the term "watergate", and thus the term "-gate", are almost irrevocably tied to the idea of controversy.

 

[Supernova1138]

Well we could move to the 21st century and apply the -ghazi suffix to every scandal, but that doesn't sound quite as good as -gate. In any case we need another scandal at the Watergate hotel so we can determine what the proper naming of a second Watergate scandal should be. Do we go with Watergategate, or Watergate 2: The Scandaling, or perhaps Water-gate².