Triskaidekaphobia

Use it. You'll be a hit ...

Word of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2007
triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun :
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Thirteen people, pledged to eliminate triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13, today tried to reassure American sufferers by renting a 13 ft-plot of land in Brooklyn for 13 cents . . . a month.
- Daily Telegraph, January 14, 1967
I wonder how much that 13-ft plot is now ...

Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13.
- "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday", Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
Who the hell realized all of that?

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.
Yea, I'm just going to call it "thirteen-anoid"

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.
Does "Thank God It's Friday" suddenly seem sacrilegious to anyone?

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

Source: "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for triskaidekaphobia

Blogger spellcheck doesn't recognize this word; therefore, I don't believe it exists. It's just something that the thirteen-aphobes came up with to spread fear about this alleged triskaidekaphobia.

Friday the 13th will always be remembered in this blog as the day the temperature in my apartment returned to below 90 degrees.