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Since the Watergate scandal of 1972-74, commentators have referred to some social and political scandals by adding the suffix "-gate" to a related noun or name. This new label has sometimes stuck but often a new name is used. The process, an example of a snowclone, is known as -gate construction.^[1]

Etymology, usage and history of -gate

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. Note that Watergate does not meet the -gate construction rule, as the scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.^[2]

The suffix is used to embellish a noun or name to suggest the existence of a far-reaching scandal. As a CBC News Online column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and a cover-up".^[3] The same usage has spread into languages other than English; examples of -gate being used to refer to local political scandals have been reported from Germany, Hungary, Greece and the former Yugoslavia.^[4] Such usages have been criticised by commentators as clichéd and misleading; James Stanyer comments that "revelations are given the 'gate' suffix to add a thin veil of credibility, following 'Watergate', but most bear no resemblance to the painstaking investigation of that particular piece of presidential corruption."^[5] Stanyer links the widespread use of -gate to what the sociologist John Thompson calls "scandal syndrome":

[A] self-reproducing and self-reinforcing process, driven on by competitive and combative struggles in the media and political fields and giving rise to more and more scandals which increasingly become the focus of mediated forms of public debate, marginalizing or displacing other issues and producing on occasion a climate of political crisis which can debilitate or even paralyse a government.^[6]

The adoption of -gate to suggest the existence of a scandal was promoted by William Safire, the conservative New York Times columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter. As early as September 1974 he wrote of "Vietgate", a proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers.^[7] Subsequently he coined numerous -gate terms, including Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate (of which he later said "My best [-gate coinage] was the encapsulation of a minor ... scandal as doublebillingsgate"), Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate, Koreagate, Lancegate, Maggiegate, Nannygate, Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate and Whitewatergate. The New York magazine suggested that his aim in doing so was "rehabilitating Nixon by relentlessly tarring his successors with the same rhetorical brush – diminished guilt by association." ^[8] Safire himself later admitted to author Eric Alterman that, as Alterman puts it, "psychologically, he may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness."^[9]

Widely recognized scandals with a -gate suffix

• Angolagate (Mitterrand-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.^[10]
• Bandargate — A political scandal in Bahrain surrounding attempts by government officials to rig the parliamentary elections and politically marginalize the Shia population.^[11]
• Beachballgate — Controversy surrounding a beach ball that was thrown by a Liverpool fan, causing a football, kicked by Darren Bent of the opposing team Sunderland, to deflect off the beach ball into the net.^[12][13]
• Bertiegate — Controversy surrounding Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland, concerning large cash lodgements made into his bank account while Minister for Finance.^[14]
• 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.^[15]
• Billygate — U.S. President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, legally represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.^[16]
• 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).^[17]
• Blagogate - In December 2008, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempted to sell the United States Senate seat of recently elected President Obama, to which he had the right of appointment.
• Bloodgate – The events surrounding a faked injury to Tom Williams of English rugby union side Harlequins in a 2008–09 Heineken Cup quarterfinal against eventual champions Leinster. Specifically, Williams used fake blood to dupe the referee into allowing Quins to send in a blood replacement, at the instigation of Quins coach Dean Richards and team physiotherapist Steph Brennan, and Williams later admitted that his mouth had been cut open immediately after the match in an attempt to cover up the fake injury. Richards was ultimately banned from rugby for three years and Brennan for two; Williams was initially banned for one year, but his ban was reduced to four months for his role in revealing the full extent of the scheme.^[18]
• 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.^[19][20]
• Bumpergate - At the 1982 Daytona 500, Bobby Allison's rear bumper fell off, allowing his car drive to faster. His crew attached it loosely on purpose, hoping it would fall off. NASCAR decided not to penalize him, and upheld his victory.^[21]
• Camillagate — Tape of a telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles^[22]
• Cheriegate — Concerning Cherie Blair's association with Carole Caplin, and through her to the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.^[23]
• 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.^[24]
• Cinziagate — A political scandal in Italy in which Flavio Delbono, the mayor of Bologna, was forced to resign in January 2010 after it was alleged that he had spent public money on his lover, Cinzia Cracchi.^[25]
• Clashgate — Concerning the date clash between the 2010 British Grand Prix and the 2010 World Cup final^[26]
• Climategate — a computer server used by the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia was hacked and thousands of e-mails and other documents stolen and released into the public domain; based on these documents allegations were made that some scientists involved in climate change research have falsified data to support their theories, and destroyed data that refutes them.^[27]
• Closetgate — The Los Angeles Times coined this term in reference to the controversy that erupted following the broadcast of the South Park episode, Trapped in the Closet, a satirical parody of the Church of Scientology and some of its famous adherents, such as Tom Cruise.^[28] This was subsequently referenced in The Independent,^[29] MSN TV,^[30] Yahoo! Movies,^[31] BBC,^[32] Turner Classic Movies,^[33] the Herald-Sun,^[34] Thoralf Fagertun of the University of Tromsø,^[35] and the Chicago Sun-Times.^[36]
• Coingate — The mishandling of Ohio government funds entrusted to Republican operatives, involving rare coin funds^[37]
• Colegate — Ashley Cole had an inappropriate and illegal meeting with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon in January 2005.^[38]
• 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.^[39]
• Crashgate — Sporting scandal in Formula One in which the Renault team were charged with racefixing after their driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. alleged he was asked by the team to crash his car to help teammate Fernando Alonso to win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.^[40]
• DASGate — A political scandal in Colombia involving illegal surveillance and wiretapping to several journalists and politicians opposing the government.
• Debategate — A political scandal in the United States involving the suspicious acquisition of debate preparation documents in 1980.
• Dianagate — See Squidgygate.
• Donnygate - A political scandal in Doncaster, UK in 1998 involving local government expense fraud ^[41]
• Dunagate - A political scandal in Hungary in 1990, with the communist regime's secret service illegally collecting information on opposition parties.
• Ettehgate - Controversial 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.^[42]
• 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.^[43]
• 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.^[44]
• Filegate — The illegal possession and scrutiny of 300-900 FBI files by the Clinton Administration without the file's subject's permission.^[45]
• 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 criticised by tabloid press and took further damage to her career, which have yet to recover since.^[46]
• Galvingate — the 2008 controversy surrounding Paul Galvin's dismissal in a Munster Championship match for striking the referee's notebook out of his hand.^[47]
• GateCrasherGate -- the 2009 incident where Michaele and Tareq Salahi gate-crashed the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, causing an embarrassing security lapse for the United States Secret Service.
• 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.^[48][49]
• 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.^[50]
• 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.^[51]
• 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.
• Handgate - See Henrygate
• Hansiegate - Scandal in 2000 involving Hansie Cronje and several other cricketers from South Africa and the Indian subcontinent who were accused of accepting money from bookmakers to fix the results of cricket matches.
• Henrygate — Controversy surrounding a handball by the French captain Thierry Henry, playing against the Republic of Ireland during the playoff for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[52][53]
• 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.^[54]
• Hobnobgate - An episode of This Week where host Andrew Neil light-heartedly compared Diane Abbott to a chocolate HobNob, leading to 15 complaints.^[55]
• Hot Coffeegate - Nickname for the Hot Coffee minigame controversy, a series of legal actions taken against the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.^[56]
• 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.^[57][58]
• 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.^[59]
• 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.^[60]
• 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.^[61]
• Irisgate, a 2010 political scandal involving an affair by Iris Robinson MP MLA, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson.
• 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^{[62][63][64][65]}
• 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.^[66]
• Kanyegate — Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, saying Beyoncé had "one of the best videos of all time" with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
• Katrinagate (also "FEMAgate") — Used by people who disapproved of government response to Hurricane Katrina.^[67]
• 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.^[68]
• Koreagate A 1976 scandal involving South Korean influence peddling in the U. S. Congress. This was the first scandal after Watergate to receive the -gate suffix.
• Liargate - Controversy surrounding Lewis Hamilton and the Mclaren formula one teams when they lied to the stewards shortly after the Australian GP of 2009^[69]
• 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 driver Jarno Trulli past again after the former overtook the latter when he went off the road under a Safety Car period.^[70]
• 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.^[71]
• 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.
• Memogate - (See "Rathergate") The scandal over a forged memo about George W Bush's military record that ultimately lead to the removal of Dan Rather from his host as anchor at CBS News.
• 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.^[72]
• 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.^[73]
• 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.^[74]
• NAFTAgate^[75] — 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.^[76]
• Nannygate (1) — Rob Lowe's nanny sues him for sexual harassment.^[77]
• 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.^[78]
• 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.^[79]
• 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.^[80]
• 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^[81]
• 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.^[82]
• 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.^{[83][84][85][86][87][88]}
• 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.^[89]
• 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.^[90]
• Piegate (1) — controversy when Frank McAveety was late for parliament meeting as a result of a canteen dinner.^[91]
• Piegate (2) — crackdown on non-commercially approved pies in Pennsylvania.^[92]
• Piegate (3) — An incident involving Manchester United fans at half-time in a football match at Barnsley F.C. on 27 October 2009^[93]
• Pizzagate — An incident involving a slice of pizza thrown at Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, by an Arsenal player.^[94]
• Pinotgate — a scandal arising in 2010 over the passing off of French Merlot and Syrah wine in 2006 through 2008 as Pinot Noir^[95]
• 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.^[96]
• Portraitgate - Two oil paintings depicting Brian Cowen, Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, in the nude, were briefly displayed in Dublin art galleries in March 2009 as an act of guerilla art.^[97][98][99]
• 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.^[100]
• 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.^[101]
• Reutersgate — The controversy over Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj manipulating news photos with Photoshop.^[102]
• 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.^[103]
• Sachsgate - 2008 scandal over prank phone calls to Andrew Sachs by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand
• 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.^[104]
• Shawinigate — A 1999 Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home riding of Shawinigan, Quebec^[105]
• Shingate — 2007 scandal in South Korea in which an art history professor at Dongguk University was revealed to have forged her academic credentials, prompting a national brouhaha and a $50 million lawsuit against Yale University, which had mistakenly said that Shin actually attended the school ^[106]
• Shreddergate - 2007 scandal in Tasmanian politics regarding the shredding of a document by Steve Kons which had recommended Simon Cooper be made a magistrate.
• Shilpagate — A controversy in which Celebrity Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty was bullied by other housemates on a live feed.^[107][108]
• 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.^[109]
• Skategate — During the pairs skating of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the Russian pairing of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze controversially was awarded gold medal, jointly with favorites, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, despite a minor (but obvious) technical error in the former's routine.^[110]
• 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.
• Spitgate - The controversy that New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera allegedly spat on a baseball between pitches to give the ball more break. (Spitball)He was absolved by MLB shortly thereafter.
• Spygate (1) — See also Stepneygate - The controversy surrounding the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy.^[111]
• 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.^[112]
• Stepneygate — Allegations of espionage in Formula One racing carried out by members of the McLaren team.^[113] Also sometimes known as Spygate^[114] (not to be confused with the NFL scandal of the same name).
• Stormontgate — Allegations of a Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring operating in Stormont.^[115]
• Suitcasegate — A businessman is caught at a Buenos Aires airport in August 2007 with a suitcase containing $800,000.^[116]
• Strippergate (Canada)^[117]
• Strippergate (Seattle) two separate government scandals and criminal investigations
• Strippergate (San Diego) San Diego, California
• Stupidgate - a reference to President Obama's remark that police "acted stupidly" in the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This may also be referred to as "Gatesgate."
• 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.^[118]
• Terrygate - controversy involving the extramartial affair of John Terry with the former girlfriend of his teammate Wayne Bridge.^{[119][120][121]}
• 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.
• Tigergate - The scandal surrounding Tiger Woods' numerous mistresses.^[122]
• Tiregate - 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.^[123][124]
• 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.^[125]
• Travelgate — The 1993 firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration.^[126]
• Troopergate (1) — The allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton.^[127]
• 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.^[128]
• 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.^[129] Palin prefers the term "Tasergate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson.^[118]
• Tunagate — A 1985 political scandal in Canada involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna which were sold to the public.^[130]
• 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.^[131]
• Verdanagate
• 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.^[132]
• 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^[133]
• Winegate — A beat-up over a bottle of wine on a jet landing in an alcohol-free Aboriginal community.^[134]
• Whitewatergate — Better known as the Whitewater controversy.^[135]

References

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 2008-09-05. 
• al-Lughat, Jabal. ""-gate" suffix reaches Arabic". http://lughat.blogspot.com/2006/06/gate-suffix-reaches-arabic.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17.