I'm sure that most of you are familiar with Watergate. You might also be familiar with

gamer gate, contragate, pizza gate, party gate, China gate, deflate gate, sandpaper gate, and

Winegate. There are dozens and dozens more of these scandals which have all been

named with the suffix gate. But why do scandals get affixed with gate in the

English language and where did the word originally come from. Learn more about Scandals and Ian Gate

and why the suffix came to denote a scandal

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The path which led us from the use of the suffix gate to denote scandals from the origin of the word watergate is a very long and circuitous one.

Believe it or not, this story actually starts in 1831

with the opening of the Chesapeake and Ohio canals.

Canals were a really big deal in early America

because the cost of transporting goods inland was ridiculously expensive.

The canal connected Cumberland, Maryland to the nation's capital in Washington, D.C.

The location which became known as Watergate is located not far from the eastern terminus of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal where it emptied into the Potomac River.

There are several stories about how the name Watergate came about. Most of them have to do with the location of a

nearby waste weir. A waste weir is a gate that's designed to regulate water in a

canal. It can remove excess water in the event of flooding or drain a canal if there was a need for repairs.

Basically, it was a gate which held back water, hence water gate.

The reason why this particular location was given the term Watergate,

primarily dates back to a 19th century inn near the site called

The Watergate Inn, two words.

There was also a restaurant that went by the name

...