Let the dog in!

noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.

In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.

Some famous triskaidekaphobes:
Napoleon
Herbert Hoover
Mark Twain
Richard Wagner
Franklin Roosevelt

When I first read this word from Doctor Dictionary today, I thought it was that word Big Bird sings for the alphabet….hey, I’m tired and we were talking about Sesame Street the other morning. I also thought it said Robert Wagner, not Richard Wagner, which was going to confirm suspicions I have about him being weird.

So, it’s too long to use in Scrabble and I can’t even really say it out loud. Try it yourself. Let’s just hope those triska, traska…..phobes, whoever, were wrong! Good luck, today!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!