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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate

June 23, 2025 The Allusionist
A boggle grid spelling out the word 'gate'

The other day was the 53rd anniversary of the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, which not only caused a lot of political uproar, it had a big linguistic legacy: the suffix -gate to mean a scandal.

Today, as part of Four Letter Word season, we have a list of -gates - royal, sporting, political, food, showbiz - it's a non-exhaustive list because there are so many, and new ones are being spawned all the time. Content warning for all sorts of bad human behaviour.

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In episodes, Four Letter Words Tags society, culture, words, language, arts, history, vocabulary, four letter words, snowclone, libfix, suffixes, scandal, Watergate Hotel, Watergate Complex, Watergate Scandal, Washington DC, Watergate, Richard Nixon, Foggy Bottom, Mr Blobby, Blobbyland, England, Noel Edmonds, theme parks, politics, food, entertainment, sport, sports, wine, football, soccer, corruption, curling, butter, Ariana Grande, Royal Family, monarchy, King Charles III, Princess Diana, Queen Camilla, Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson, Fergie, meats, tabloids, headlines, newspapers, media, Australia, Tony Abbott, Theresa May, onions, David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Mumsnet, biscuits, Mauritius, Macarena, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Argentina, Venezuela, Denmark, mink, Panama Papers, UK Government, Downing Street, prime minister, covid, coronavirus, lockdown, police, doughnuts, donuts, Nutella, Quebec, French, pasta, pasties, chess, blood, rugby, fake, NFL, balls, farts, crime, Gamergate, gaming, baseball, GBBO, Great British Bake Off, Baked Alaska, ice cream, TV, television, Academy Awards, Oscars, Moonlight, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Chicago, Super Bowl, poop, radio, Harry Styles, spit, Chris Pine, politicians, zwitterion, gate, -gate
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Allusionist 179: Andy Quiz

August 10, 2023 The Allusionist
a boggle grid spelling out the words Andy Quiz

It's the annual etymology quizlusionist! I’m on a family holiday for the first time since 1988, so enlisted my brother Andy Zaltzman of the Bugle podcast to test his/your wits on singing goats, explosives, mythological Greek sweeteners, attics, left-handedness and whales.

Can you beat Andy’s score? Play along using the interactive scoresheet at the bottom of this post.

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In episodes, quiz Tags words, language, quiz, cows, ox, bovine, animals, Greek, Ancient Greek, Greece, Old English, Latin, classic, Proto-Indo-European, bucolic, butane, butter, gwou, vows, run, running, car, carriage, goats, goat song, caprine, John Oliver, comedy, explosives, explosions, Alfred Nobel, eponyms, ballistite, crying, weeping, left handed, right handed, sinister, right, Attis, cricket, sweeteners, myths, Thebes, Maenads, Bacchae, Euripides, saccharine, whales, kaboom, bang, applause, Kent, architecture, trivium, quadrivium, Dionysus, hockey, agave, baleen, boom, bugle, buttocks, careen, career, deplore, dynamite, explode, explore, jetton, left, profession, tragedy, trivia, whale penises
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Featured
Festivelusionists
Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
Allusionist 217. Bread and Roses, and Coffee
Allusionist 217. Bread and Roses, and Coffee
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
Allusionist 214. Four Letter Words: Bane Bain Bath
Allusionist 214. Four Letter Words: Bane Bain Bath
Souvenirs on BBC Radio 4
Souvenirs on BBC Radio 4
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate
Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
queer playlist
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The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.