Juggernaut
The word juggernaut is a noun that refers to a massive force so huge that it can destroy anything in its path. The British use it to refer to large trucks.
Origin
The word has a fascinating history tied deeply to India. In the 14th Century, a missionary who witnessed the street procession of the Jagannath’s huge chariot (perhaps in present-day Puri) is said to have returned to Europe and narrated the event – assumed to be greatly exaggerated -as an occurrence where people deliberately put themselves under the chariot’s massive wheels, and getting destroyed in the process. Another version attributes a similar negative sentiment harboured by a Scottish missionary in India during the 18th Century. Irrespective of the attributes, the word Jagannath was anglicised to Juggernaut, and since the 19th Century has had the present meaning.
Example
Even a two-month advertisement juggernaut could not make the product a success.
Picture Credit : Google
