Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 13:37:24 -0500

From: Larry Horn laurence.horn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU

Subject: Re: Sexgate words (a defense)



Why is this here? Partisan and not funny. Please, no Ken Starr wannabes

on this list.



As a lifelong "left-liberal" who has no use for witch-hunts or Clinton

crazies, I have to disagree here. I find the elaboration & collection of

these word-formation-in-action -gate terms non- (or meta-) partisan (you

don't have to be a right-winger to find these charges plausible and

unpleasant, if--pardon the expression--a bit overblown), funny (at least

the good ones, although that's an aesthetic call--my personal faves so far

are 'zippergate' for the phonology and 'tailgate' for the pun), AND

list-relevant, although more toward the WOTY/coinage component of the

Society than to dialectology per se. If Barry had his way and we schizzed

into an ads/dialectology group proper and an American Popular Speech

list/website, the "-gate"s would obviously head for the latter, but since

we implicitly spurned the schism, bring 'em on.



Larry