今週の英語トピック - The '-gate' Suffix
English topic of the week
English uses prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is the letter, letters, or word that are added in front of a word such as 'bi-,' which means two and is found in the beginning of the words bicycle and bilingual. A suffix is the opposite of a prefix, coming at the end of a word. We have suffixes like '-ist,' which means person and is found at the end of words such as dentist and receptionist. Today, we would like to talk about the suffix '-gate,' which comes from the Watergate scandal, which resulted in President Richard M. Nixon resigning on August 9, 1974. A few of the many scandals that followed, using this suffix, were Billygate, where President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, represented the Libyan government and Monicagate, where Monica Lewinsky was involved with President Bill Clinton. Click here if you would like to see a list of the many scandals where the '-gate' suffix is used.
Troopergate is on this list three times, once concerning two Arkansas troopers, once concerning special police records in New York, and now concerning Sarah Palin. We presented this last week as follows:
On July 11, 2008, Sarah Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan citing performance-related issues. Monegan alleged that his dismissal was retaliation for his failure to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a child custody battle with Palin’s sister. In July, Palin's ethics advisor urged her to apologize for "overreaching or perceived overreaching" to get Wooten fired. Palin publicly acknowledged in August that "pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it." On August 1, the Alaska Legislature hired an independent investigator to review the situation. The investigation is scheduled to be completed in October 2008.
Since then, Todd Palin, Sarah Palin's husband, has been subpoenaed, which means that he is required to appear in court. He has refused to appear in court and testify. Will this be what destroys Palin and McCain? Or do the people who vote for them simply not care about scandals and integrity? We will find out soon.
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