the.com/juggernaut
An unstoppable force, named after a festival cart that crushed its own worshippers.
means A massive, unstoppable force or thing that crushes or overrides everything in its path.
from From Jagannath, a title of the Hindu deity Krishna/Vishnu meaning 'lord of the world,' worshipped at a temple in Puri, India, where an enormous festival chariot carries his image through the streets each year. European travelers' accounts described devotees being accidentally crushed beneath the massive wheels during the crush of the crowd, and — exaggerated and stripped of context — this image hardened into an English word for any huge, crushing, unstoppable force. The modern use owes more to colonial-era sensationalism than to the actual festival, which is a joyous Hindu religious rite, not a cult of self-destruction.
- origin
- From Jagannath, a Hindu deity whose chariot drew massive crowds
- colonial myth
- British travelers exaggerated devotees being run over on purpose
- word drift
- Went from sacred procession to crushing, relentless force in English
- modern use
- Now just means anything too big and fast to stop