-gate (suffix)

[Inglesa13]

The Watergate scandal became so well known that it spawned a new suffix: ‘-gate’ became detached and now the term is applied, sometimes humorously or bathetically, to all kinds of scandals, controversies, and upsets. The 'gate' suffix | Oxford English Dictionary

Is there a Spanish equivalent to the term?

 

[fenixpollo]

Since Watergate only happened in an English-speaking country and not a Spanish-speaking one, the answer is "no", there isn't a Spanish equivalent of this cultural phenomenon.

If you give us a specific word to translate ending in "-gate", we can help you find the best way in Spanish to express the idea.

 

[LuisMX]

Actually, at least in Mexico it's common to add the "gate" to scandals (especially political scandals.) Like for example, "pemexgate".

While not everybody knows the origin of the "gate" suffix; most understand its meaning in this context even if it's not in Spanish.

 

[Inglesa13]

Since Watergate only happened in an English-speaking country and not a Spanish-speaking one, the answer is "no", there isn't a Spanish equivalent of this cultural phenomenon.

If you give us a specific word to translate ending in "-gate", we can help you find the best way in Spanish to express the idea.

This is kind of a family joke but with a serious undertone. The question arose from a conversation with my sister about my brother’s tendency to fixate on certain ideas, leading to conversations with him that subsequently turn into arguments when we’ve exhausted our capacity to explain and he still won’t let go of the topic. He did this a while back over why Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine, and now has a fixation that the seeding at Wimbledon this year is a con to ensure Federer wins again. Since the worst-ever argument of this type with him was about Spanish (which he had begun trying to learn but has long since given up) my sister and I were trying to think of a word we could use discreetly between ourselves when talking to him in future to alert us to the deterioration in the conversation before it’s too late to avert an argument. My sister (who also doesn’t know any Spanish) referred to the first argument as ‘Spanish-gate’ and asked me what word we could use. I thought ‘cuidadito’ might work but I was interested to know if there was a more direct translation.

 

[Teacher Monica]

The Watergate scandal became so well known that it spawned a new suffix: ‘-gate’ became detached and now the term is applied, sometimes humorously or bathetically, to all kinds of scandals, controversies, and upsets. The 'gate' suffix | Oxford English Dictionary

Is there a Spanish equivalent to the term?

I would say el escándalo de ..., which means "the scandal of ..."
Check, for example, the so-called dieselgate -to refer to the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2015. In Spanish, this would remain dieselgate, or could be translated as el escándalo de las emisiones contaminantes de Volkswagen en 2015

 

[gvergara]

Is there a Spanish equivalent to the term?

Hi,

Not a specific term here, since we also add the _gate suffix after the generous financial scandals provided by our glorious armed forces, Pacogate and Milicogate being the two most emblematic ones.

 

[pollohispanizado]

The Odebrecht scandal is usually just called "el caso Odebrecht", which would probably be called "Odebrechtgate" in North America. (I personally find this trend abhorrent -- it sounds so trite and dumb.)

 

[gengo]

Actually, at least in Mexico it's common to add the "gate" to scandals (especially political scandals.) Like for example, "pemexgate".

Do you pronounce the "gate" as in Spanish (two syllables) or as in English? I know that in Mexico "Colgate" toothpaste is pronounced as three syllables.

 

[franzjekill]

Do you pronounce the "gate" as in Spanish (two syllables) or as in English? I know that in Mexico "Colgate" toothpaste is pronounced as three syllables.

La pasta de dientes tiene tres sílabas y así la pronuncian los avisos publicitarios de la marca. Pero el sufijo "gate" se pronuncia como en inglés. Por poner un ejemplo, el "Iran-Contra affair" se conoció también en español como el caso "Irangate" y se pronuncia el sufijo según se pronuncia en inglés, no así el nombre del país, que se pronuncia como en español. Una combinación extraña de pronunciaciones dentro de una misma palabra. Lo mismo sucede con "Watergate", "water" no se pronuncia como se pronuncia en inglés, pero sí el sufijo.

 

[Linnets]

La Real Académia Española recomienda trama: trama rusa mejor que Rusiagate, pero acepta también caso de, escándalo de, crisis de, conexión.

 

[gvergara]

La Real Académia Española recomienda trama: trama rusa mejor que Rusiagate, pero acepta también caso de, escándalo de, crisis de, conexión.

No veo mucho la lógica práctica de la RAE en este punto. En Chile, el sufijo _gate entrega un mensaje distinto a simplemente emplear caso, que por lo demás en determinados contextos sonaría muy poco natural. Escándalo y crisis son términos harto más generales (Marianogate no sonaría nada bien para referirse a un escándalo de infidelidad en el mundo de la farándula, pero sí el escándalo Mariano, o algo así). Trama o conexión entre determinados hablantes ni siquiera se entendería bien.