Why is a scandal or event suffixed with “门” in Chinese?

Nowadays, as various "门事件" (mén shì jiàn, events or scandals) emerge one after another, "门" has become a sizzling netspeak. Just searching on line, different "门事件" would leap to your eyes immediately, including "艳照门" (yàn zhào mén, nude photo scandal), "自杀门" (zì shā mén, suicide scandal), and "尘肺门" (chén fèi mén, pneumoconiosis scandal). 

时下，伴随着各种"门事件"的层出不穷，"门"成为一个很红的网络热词。只要利用百度搜索引擎稍稍搜索一下，便会出现各类以"门"字冠名的事件，如"艳照门"、"自杀门"、"尘肺门"等等。

Used to be a common Chinese noun, "门" refers to the "gate, door or entrance of a house/building". However, in various "门事件", "门" has obviously become derogatory. These 门-suffixed events are basically related to scandals that go viral overnight. For example, "艳照门" refers to a nude photo scandal of the HK pop star Edison Chen. Here, "门" is obviously derogatory. From then on, different "门事件" emerges one after another, and "门" became a hot online catchword. 

"门"原先只是一个很普通的名词，含义是"房屋、围墙、车船等出入口能开关的障蔽装置"。然而，在如今的各种"门事件"中，很显然"门"字已经带有了贬义。这些以"门"字冠名的事件多与丑闻有关，一夜之间传得沸沸扬扬，弄得满城风雨。以"艳照门"事件为例，"门"字在此事件中明显带有贬义。此后，众多"门事件"层出不穷，"门"很快跃升为一个网络热词。

But when exactly did "门" first become derogatory? It may date back to the "Watergate Scandal" in the U.S., which occurred in the 1970s, following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. and President Richard Nixon's administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. When the conspiracy was discovered and investigated by the U.S. Congress, the Nixon administration's resistance to its probes led to a constitutional crisis. In Chinese, Watergate is translated into "水门" (shuǐ mén) literally, as "water" is equivalent to "水" and "gate" "门".

"门"字语义感情色彩发生变化最早是从什么时候开始的？追根溯源，它与"水门事件"密切相关。水门事件指美国共和党在1972年总统竞选运动中的非法活动暴露后的政治丑闻。"水门事件"是因该丑闻事件发生在美国民主党总部——水门大厦而得名。

Since then, most political scandals have been suffixed with "门" in Chinese. Gradually, it is extended to a wider range. Any new scandal or event can be named "XX门", as long as it is sensational and appealing to the public. 

自从"水门事件"发生以后，人们把与其类似的政治丑闻大多都冠以"门"字。后来"XX门"又被引申到更广的范围，现在已不仅仅局限在政治上，而是代指任何新发生的一些丑闻或新闻（不一定是丑闻），这些新闻只要是一些颇具新闻效应，能引起公众广泛关注和浓厚兴趣的事件，都被冠上"XX门"的叫法。

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