As I started thinking about the superstition and fears connected with today, Friday the 13th, I came across the brilliant name for this fear –paraskevidekatriaphobia – now that’s a final round American Bee Spelling word right there!!
Paraskevi – which in Greek means Friday
Dekatria – Greek for thirteen, and
Phobia – fear in English.
The word led me to thinking about other phobias. If you are fearful of number 13 you have Triskaidekaphobia – so Paraskevidekatriaphobia without the Paraskevi.
Ironically, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words, it’s also called sesquipedalophobia for short!!
Sesqui – Greek for 1.5 – as in I had sesqui chocolate chip cookies and milk for lunch today .
Pedalis – Greek for anything related to feet.
So a fear of words that are a foot and a half long, with hippo and monstrose thrown in for good measure.
Another really useful one is Arachibutyrophobia, which is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth – hmmm…should have saved some of my milk for the arachibutyro instead of finishing it with my sesqui cookie treat.
Arachi – Greek for peanut
Butyro – from the Greek word for Butter
So did the Greeks have peanut butter? And not sure what part of the word means sticking to the roof of your mouth. But an important word nonetheless for when one finds themselves in this sticky situation.
One that I definitely do not have is Turophobia – a fear of cheese – on the contrary I have an absolute love for Parmesan, Gouda, Cheddar, Swiss – but I digress. The Greek word Turi which means cheese, gives this phobia its name.
My parents sometimes behave like they have Ephebiphobia – a fear of teenagers though I can’t imagine why.
Ephebi – from the Greek word ephebos meaning youth. The word was coined in 1994 – wonder what the teenagers were up to in 1994 to trigger their own phobia.
Here’s one I have for sure – Nomophobia – the fear of being without my phone. The word is a portmanteau of no – mobile phone – and phobia. Maybe this is what Munch was warning us about in The Scream.
Nomophobia – I’m not making it up – actually it was made up during a 2010 UK Post Office Study about the world’s obsession with their cell phones.
What are your favorite phobia words ? Please share them in the comments section.
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