Gotterdammerung

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The Word of the Day for March 27 is: 

Gotterdammerung   \gher-ter-DEM-uh-roong\   noun
     : a collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence 
and disorder; broadly : downfall 

Example sentence:
     Although we all hoped for a peaceful transfer of power, we feared the 
conflict would instead end in a chaotic Gotterdammerung.

Did you know?
     Norse mythology specified that the destruction of the world would be 
preceded by a cataclysmic final battle between the good and evil gods, 
resulting in the heroic deaths of all the "good guys." The German word for this 
earth-shattering last battle was "Gotterdammerung." Literally, 
"Gotterdammerung" means "twilight of the gods." ("Gotter" is the plural of 
"Gott," meaning "god," and "Dammerung" means "twilight.") Figuratively, the 
term is extended to situations of world-altering destruction marked by extreme 
chaos and violence. In the 19th century, the German composer Richard Wagner 
brought attention to the word "Gotterdammerung" when he chose it as the title 
of the last opera of his cycle _Der Ring des Nibelungen_, and by the early 20th 
century, the word had entered English.





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