juggernaut en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ɚ.nɔt/ (US)
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ə.nɔːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ɚ.nɑt/
- /ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ə.nɔːt/ (Australia)
Etymology
Borrowed in the 17th century into British English in India, either through Hindustani جَگَنَّاتھ (jagannāth) / जगन्नाथ (jagannāth) or directly from Odia ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ (jagannātha), ultimately from Sanskrit ज॒ग॒न्ना॒थ (jagannāthá, “lord of universe”) (Jagannatha), a title for the Hindu deity Vishnu's avatar Krishna. The sense comes from witnessing the Rath Yatra (chariot parade) at Puri, Odisha, a huge annual procession which features a wagon of the idol of Jagannath; pulled with ropes by hundreds of devotees, the wagon develops considerable momentum and becomes unstoppable. The r was not originally pronounced: for non-rhotic dialects of British English, the spelling with -er- accurately suggests the Hindi-Urdu pronunciation of the second vowel (a schwa ə); compare e.g. gorm. The spelling of the ending was influenced by the suffix -naut (“traveller, voyager”). Doublet of Jagannath.
Meanings
-
A literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path.
It’s always fun when something massive comes along and sweeps the board, giving everything else a thoroughly good kicking – think Titanic, The Silence of the Lambs, or Lord of the Rings. There’s a sort of deranged, gluttonous feeling, a perverse glee in seeing so many dreams trampled on by a massive cultural juggernaut.
2015 February 23, “Oscars 2015: 10 things we learned”, in The Guardian (London):The fact that the juggernaut of Indian English rolls inexorably on, largely unconcerned by the academic arguments taking place about it, is in itself an indicator of an endonormative force in the variety, and this can be traced historically.
2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 114:McCarthy will point to their bad luck but the statistics now show that Wolves have lost four league matches and have claimed one point from a possible 15 - so it may prove to be another difficult season for the Midlands side. In contrast, the Newcastle juggernaut rolls on.
2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:[…] poor Johnny Tetterby staggering under his Moloch of an infant, the Juggernaut that crushes all his enjoyments.
1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:Anon Mr. Hoopdriver found himself riding out of the darkness of non-existence, pedalling Ezekiel's Wheels across the Weald of Surrey, jolting over the hills and smashing villages in his course, while the other man in brown cursed and swore at him and shouted to stop his career. There was the Putney heath-keeper, too, and the man in drab raging at him. He felt an awful fool, a- -what was it?--a juggins, ah!--a Juggernaut.
1895, H. G. Wells, chapter XII, in The Wheels of Chance:
-
(Ireland, UK, derogatory, sometimes) A large, cumbersome truck or lorry, especially an articulated lorry.
Silently and gracefully I free-wheeled across the path of three juggernauts, [...] glided across the hard shoulder and came to rest halfway up a grass bank.
1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 78:I know I swing me Volvo all around you market square. I know you think that lorry drivers, we just don't care. But the streets are so narrow, built so many years ago. They were built for horses' carts, not juggernauts you know.
2019, “I love my juggernaut”, in The Pothole Song Album, performed by Richie Kavanagh:
- An institution that incites destructive devotion or to which people are carelessly sacrificed.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| juggernauts | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (29)
fi tiejyrä (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · ru джаггерна́ут (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · et teerull (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · ja 超大型トレーラートラック (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · ar جِبْت (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · de Monstertruck (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · pl ślepa siła niszczycielska (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · it macchina da guerra (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · fr rouleau compresseur (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · hu mindent eltipró/elsöprő erő/tárgy (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · es monstruo (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · pl wielka ciężarówka z naczepą (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · hu buldózer (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · pl moloch (institution that incites destructive devotion or to which people are carelessly sacrificed) · fi täysperävaunurekka (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · fr poids lourd (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · hu monstrum (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · de Moloch (institution that incites destructive devotion or to which people are carelessly sacrificed) · eo ŝoserulilo (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · de Lastkraftwagen (large, cumbersome truck or lorry) · ja 圧倒的な力 (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · hu torpedó (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · el οδοστρωτήρας (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · ar طَاغُوت (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · es gigante (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · fi kaiken tieltään tuhoava voima (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · cy jygarnot (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · nl pletwals (literal or metaphorical force or object regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path) · ru грузови́к (large, cumbersome truck or lorry)