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by tester756 2051 days ago
What's the thing about adding "-gate" to everything?
2 comments

(not an answer but) It's less annoying than needlessly adding "Cyber" to criminal activity.
it's been a common way to refer to a scandal since Watergate[0]. Don't know if that's actually the case here though.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal

I wouldn't refer to getting hacked as a scandal. Unless it comes out that there was some sort of coverup, it seems innapropriate to refer to it as a -gate.
but why? why cannot it just be "solarwinds hack"
It's a tad conspiratorial, but I suspect there was a concerted effort by media to muddy down the impacts of future watergate-level scandals by highlighting a lot of minor "gates". Already I feel tempted to roll my eyes each time I see another HN post about X-gate, seeing many "weaker" stories using the same nomenclature certainly steals power away from the stories that hit hard.
If it fits, I prefer gate, but in this case the suffix is quite jarring so I agree