Want to know which are the biggest ‘gate’ controversies in history? More than forty years after the Watergate scandal that resulted in U.S. President Richard Nixon’s resignation, the ‘gate’ suffix seems to have taken on a life of its own. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is used “in nouns denoting an actual or alleged scandal, especially one involving a cover-up”.
Naturally, the origin of this suffix has nothing to do with a Greek or Latin word enclosing the meaning of scandal, but it dates from the 1970s Watergate affair. Although the Merriam-Webster’s definition says that the particle stands for “a political scandal often involving the concealment of wrongdoing”, ‘gate’ has transcended the political sphere. In fact, ‘gate’ controversies are also found in sports, arts, entertainment, technology, academics, and journalism.
One of the most recent ‘gate’ scandals is #gamergate; and I use it with the hashtag, because it’s been quite a hot topic in social media. That controversy began in August of the current year in the video game culture concerning sexism issues as well as journalistic ethics. Surely, if you’re a gamer you must be familiar with this scandal and have an opinion about it; and if you still haven’t seen our list of the 5 Clear Reasons LoL is Better than DotA, Continues to Rule MOBAs you should take a look right now. That article may even start a ‘gate’ of its own! Or not.
Returning to the real scandals, Watergate left a mark not only on American history but in the English language as well. The influence of both the episode and the suffix was such that it even exceeded the linguistic limits and has been used in other languages: France had ‘Winegate’, Venezuela and Argentina had ‘Valijagate’, Mexico had ‘Toallagate’, and Russia the ‘Volgagate’. Even in those foreign countries the meaning implied by the suffix got successfully through.
Though ‘gate’ is often also used in a humorous or bathetic way to refer to unserious scandals (celebrities mainly), the controversies in our list are most definitely serious events. So, are you curious about the biggest ‘gate’ controversies in history? Let’s take a look at the countdown.
10. Camillagate and Squidgygate
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We chose to start the countdown with a combination of royal scandals. The Camillagate took place in 1993 when the British tabloids published the transcripts of a rather intimate telephone conversation between Camilla Parker Bowles and Charles, Prince of Wales. In a similar way, Squidgygate (also called Dianagate) refers to the recordings of Princess Diana’s telephone conversations with James Gilbey; the existence of which was revealed by a British newspaper in 1992, an event that deepened the conflict known as the “War of the Waleses”.
9. Gategate
Also known as Plodgate, this UK scandal involved a conservative MP and the police. It took place in 2012 when Andrew Mitchell called a policeman a ‘pleb’ (pejorative term for a working class person) after they refused to open the main gate for him when he wanted to leave Downing Street on his bike.
8. Plamegate
Otherwise named the CIA leak scandal, this political controversy arose when a journalist publicly revealed and identified a covert CIA officer.
7. Climategate
Climategate occurred in 2009 when a server at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia was hacked and various emails and documents were divulged. The climate change denialists who made that information available online alleged that the CRU documents proved that global warming was a scientific conspiracy.
6. Cablegate
Cablegate concerns the release of over 250,000 American diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks in November 2010. The scandal was the world’s largest release of classified material and involved the exposing of confidential, secret and top secret documents.
5. Irangate
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In 1986, during the second Reagan Administration, U.S. officials facilitated the sale of weapons to Iran and used that money to fund the Nicaraguan Contra rebels who were fighting against the ruling socialist government. That is why the scandal is also known as Contragate or the Iran-Contra affair.
4. Tigergate
The only sports scandal in our countdown is Tigergate, an episode which involved a series of marital infidelities by the golf star. After Woods finally admitted to the affairs, various brands that had endorsement contracts with the golfer decided to drop them.
3. Gamergate
This ongoing controversy came to wider attention after the harassment campaign against Zoe Quinn, an indie game developer. This incident attracted media attention to the issues of sexism, misogyny and trolling within the gamer community.
2. Monicagate
The Clinton Administration gave us several “gates”: Pardongate, Travelgate, Troopergate and Filegate; but none of them is as memorable as Monicagate. Also known as the Zippergate or Tailgate, this political sex scandal took place in 1998 after President Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The controversy ended with the impeachment of the former infamous President.
1. Watergate
Naturally, at the top of our countdown is the original ‘gate’: Watergate. The scandal got its name from the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C., stage of the politically motivated burglaries of the Democratic National Committee in 1972. The incident itself and the subsequent attempt to cover it up eventually led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974.