Where does “Donglegate” come from?

Donglegate (English) comes from English gate, from Middle English gate, from Old English ġeat, from Old French gaut, from Proto-West Germanic walþu, from Proto-Germanic walþuz, from Proto-Indo-European wel- — to see.

Donglegate (English): A controversy of 2013 in which a woman at a technology conference took offense on overhearing an apparently ribald joke involving the word dongle and published the two men's photographs on the Internet in an attempt to shame them, causing one to be fired from his job

Definitions

  1. A controversy of 2013 in which a woman at a technology conference took offense on overhearing an apparently ribald joke involving the word dongle and published the two men's photographs on the Internet in an attempt to shame them, causing one to be fired from his job

Ancestry of “Donglegate”, step by step

Donglegate traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English gate

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgateA doorlike structure outside a house; Doorway,...
2Middle EnglishgateAn entryway or entrance to a settlement or...
3Old Englishġeatgate; a gate, door
4Old Frenchgautforest, woods, woodland
5Proto-West Germanicwalþuforest
6Proto-Germanicwalþuzforest
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwel-to see

via English dongle

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdongleAny small device that plugs into an electronic...
2EnglishdangleTo hang loosely with the ability to swing; The...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wel-Every word from Proto-Germanic walþuzEvery word from Proto-West Germanic walþu