The local paper had a “Friday the Thirteenth” article in which I learned that fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia. That word seemed long and unwieldy, so I did some searching, and sure enough, there is an alternative word: friggatriskaidekaphobia.
The word is shorter, it nicely concatenates “Frigga” (derived from the name of the Norse god from whom we get the english word for Friday) with “Triskadekaphobia” (the word for “fear of the number 13”), and when you say it you sound like you’re saying “friggin’ triskaidekaphobia.” That last is what makes me happiest. I have no fear of this day, or that number, and will cheerfully poo-poo such superstitions — especially if it makes friggin’ triskaidekaphobes uncomfortable.
I also step on cracks, break mirrors from time to time, and fail completely to knock on wood. Like right now. Friggin’ triskadekaphobes! Nothing bad is going to happen today that couldn’t just as easily happen on any other day. Aaaand here I am, not knocking on wood.
So… the word of the day is friggatriskaidekaphobia. Say it with a sneer!
So when I say “Friggin’,” I’m invoking Norse gods? Crap!
Actually, you’re invoking Friday.
No no no. You’re invoking a Norse goddess. Frigga was Odin’s wife.
I hate the number 13.
It’s such a pain to divide by.
Vorn
And you call yourself an eldrich horror? Mind you, 13 isn’t quite as nice to divide by as the square root of -2, but it does have its uses.
*hurls a black cat in Howard’s general direction*
That’s bad luck for both of us, but only because cats have pointy bits and very tightly-wound internal springs. Throw something safer, like sweaty dynamite next time!
Oh weird…I was subbing at a school yesterday and they had the word triskadekaphobia as their “guess the meaning” word of the day. I hadn’t connected it to today though.
LOL
Weird, dekatria is thirteen in Greek, but ‘triskaideka’ is three words meaning ‘three plus ten’. Noone says that, not even in ancient, as far as I know.
Well, then dekatriaphobia would be a good replacement for triskaidekaphobia. And friggadekatriaphobia would STILL work better than paraskevidekatriaphobia, unless you’re determined to keep the whole thing in the same linguistic family.
I’m an English speaker. We aim for meaning, not linguistic purity.
That sentance looks so convaluted.
I suppose it isn’t really.
But hot damn!
One of my younger brothers was born on a Friday the thirteenth under a full moon…
Take that as you will.
Silly Humans
The local paper had a “Friday the Thirteenth” article in which I learned that fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Never understood this fear. “Friday the Thirteenth” is a lucky day. Now “Monday the Thirteenth” is a day to shut down the ani-plant and hide under a friendly carbosilicate amorph
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