A word/phrase for an unexpected change or turn of events in a person's life


I am looking for a single word similar to a turn of events, changing one's stars/destiny, passing a crossroads or doing something that would cause someone's life to have a dramatic change. From a writing perspective it is similar to a "plot twist" except happening to a person, if that makes sense. It does not have to necessarily be a catastrophic change, which for example happened as a result of guilt or a loss, but a change which sets a person on a very different path.


Eg.:



After that happened George's life would never be the same; he'd reached a/an ______________ .




Answer



The term watershed is often used for this. From Cambridge Dictionaries:



watershed noun (BIG CHANGE)


​[Uncountable] an event or period that is important because it represents a big change and the start of new developments:
a watershed event/moment
The discovery of penicillin was a watershed in the history of medicine.



The origin of its figurative usage appears to be from the geological term, where a ridge or other geological feature separates flowing water into different drainage systems. Thus the metaphor is very similar to a crossroads or fork in the road, but perhaps with less implication of a choice of path (the water doesn't choose which way to go, just like "history" didn't choose in the example above).


So for your example



After that happened George's life would never be the same; he'd reached a watershed.



would especially make sense if the event "that happened" was not of George's choosing or possibly if George did not foresee the consequences. You could also say that



[The thing that happened] was a watershed for George; afterward, his life would never be the same.



or, even more simply,



[The thing that happened] was a watershed in George's life.



Note that a watershed can be good or bad, both in the causal event and in consequences.


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