Re: TAN: new words [was: RE: LONG: Latest Wenetaic Stuff]

Don Blaheta wrote:

> As for the tendency to coin new words, I think it's rather common in
> English to take some portion of a word and use it as an affix.  Conside=
r
> the "-gate" suffix, as in "Whitewatergate", "Zippergate", and various
> other political scandals in the US (derived from the name of the Nixon
> scandal, "Watergate", the name of the hotel where the dirty deed was
> done).  Maybe it's an American thing, but I see this sort of
> word-grafting *all the time*.
No, it's not just an American thing.  Just a couple weeks ago I was
fairly shocked to find, while reading _Der Spiegel_ online, that the
Germans not only use the suffix in their publications to refer to the
recent string of American fiascos, but are even applying it to their
own domestic scandals (I think it had something to do with
mismanagement of funds in the European parliament -- "Br=FCsselgate"
or some such thing).

On a related note, some Cable channel in these parts has been
advertising a new series of programs dedicated to John Wayne on
Wednesday, and call it "John Waynesday".