Word Geek Wednesday: Juggernaut

Welcome to Word Geek Wednesday, where we explore words in the context of pop culture! Our word today is...

jug·​ger·​naut /ˈjəɡərˌnôt/ (n.) a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path

Despite its scary meaning, it comes from innocent origins. It's from the Hindi word Jagannath, a title for the Hindu deity Vishnu. During the Ratha Yatra festival in India, colossal "temple chariots" carrying the idol of Jagannath would roll through the streets. These unwieldy and heavy chariots were nigh-impossible to stop once it started moving, and Western observers thought devotees were crushed under them. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, a British chaplain stationed in India by the name of Claudius Buchanan saw Jagannath (which he Anglicized as "Juggernaut") as bloody and violent idolatry, and his high tales about the "heathens" in India during the 1800s became popular enough that "juggernaut" took on the meaning we know today.

Comic book fans are very familiar with this word thanks to the X-Men villain, Juggernaut! Ridiculously big? Check. Can't be stopped once in motion? Big check.

Speaking of unstoppable, a ghost aptly named "The Juggernaut" was one of the scariest entities in the movie Thirteen Ghosts. When a damn ghost can literally fold a person in half, what hope do you have?

When a mech is ridiculously huge and formidable, it's apt to name it Juggernaut. From classic games like Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun to modern mobile games like Mech Arena, Juggernauts are some of the scariest to face on the field.

Speaking of scary, Apocalypse Manufacturing (great name) built a 7-foot tall, 6-wheeled, 800 horsepowered monstrosity of a truck that can't even fit in regular road lanes and named it the only way it's supposed to be named: the Juggernaut!

While the word's unfortunate connotation is immortalized in the English language, devotees still come to the Rath Yatra festival in Puri, India to catch a glimpse of the awesome Jagganath chariot as it rolls down the street where, in their corner of the world, their word is still a benevolent one.

I hope you learned something new today. Thanks for reading and stay safe out there!