30 December 2014

Juggernaut

[juhg-er-nawt, -not]

noun
1. (often lowercase) any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.
2. (often lowercase) anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice.
3. Also called Jagannath. an idol of Krishna, at Puri in Orissa, India, annually drawn on an enormous cart under whose wheels devotees are said to have thrown themselves to be crushed.

Origin
Hindi
1630-1640; < Hindi Jagannāth < Sanskrit Jagannātha lord of the world (i.e., the god Vishnu or Krishna), equivalent to jagat world + nātha lord

Related forms
Juggernautish, adjective

Dictionary.com

Anagram

a urgent jug
a grunge jut
jug nut rage

Today’s aphorism

You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.

– John Mason

On this day

30 December 1922 – Lenin establishes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

30 December 1945 – birth of Davy Jones, singer with British 1960’s rock band, The Monkees. Died 29 February 2012.

30 December 2006 – Former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, hanged after being found guilty of committing crimes against humanity.