euqinimod
03/29/10, 01:16 PM
gotterdammerung (got-uhr-DAM-uh-roong, -rung)
noun: Complete destruction of an institution, regime, order, etc.
Etymology
From German Götterdämmerung (twilight of the gods), from Götter, plural of Gott (god) + Dämmerung (twilight). Götterdämmerung was the name of the last of Richard Wagner's four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The German word Götterdämmerung is a translation of the Old Norse Ragnarök which in Scandinavian mythology refers to the destruction of the gods in a battle with evil, resulting in the end of the world.
Usage
"What began as the exuberant union of two college-age strivers is coming to a devastating end after 18 years, and the Gotterdammerung is being fought out not in court but inside the couple's perfect house." — Michelle Green; Dirty Divorcing; People (New York); Feb 19, 1990.
--www.answers.com:bigbug:
noun: Complete destruction of an institution, regime, order, etc.
Etymology
From German Götterdämmerung (twilight of the gods), from Götter, plural of Gott (god) + Dämmerung (twilight). Götterdämmerung was the name of the last of Richard Wagner's four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The German word Götterdämmerung is a translation of the Old Norse Ragnarök which in Scandinavian mythology refers to the destruction of the gods in a battle with evil, resulting in the end of the world.
Usage
"What began as the exuberant union of two college-age strivers is coming to a devastating end after 18 years, and the Gotterdammerung is being fought out not in court but inside the couple's perfect house." — Michelle Green; Dirty Divorcing; People (New York); Feb 19, 1990.
--www.answers.com:bigbug: