I read in one of William Safire's books about the "tate/tater" phenomenon, commentator was one that agitated him a lot. His contention was that, commenter would work just as well. Orient/orientate was another one.
He has written some great books on language.
For reasons beyond me, the English seem to have a penchant for such baroque inventions.
I used to look forward to reading Safire's column in the Sunday New York Times Magazine section, until I could no longer justify spending my hard-earned dollars on that liberal rag. I might just spring for one of Safire's books, however. It might make a good Christmas present for one of the adults in my family. Thanks for the heads up.