Friggatriskaidekaphobia

If there is a word or an entire language that I don’t know, I love to try and speak it – not just with my mouth, I throw my arms into the mix as well.

 

Such is the case with friggatriskaidekaphobia which, according to Wikipedia, is another way of saying Friday the 13th. If you can’t pull the trigga on frigga, try saying paraskevidekatriaphobia. Neither are easy to say, thus,  if you’re not armlingual like myself, I suggest you just stick to what you can handle. Unless, of course, you have a fear of that too.

 

I’m not a superstitious person, so when this day arrives I conduct my business as usual – full of spontaneity with lots of time to relax and a regular amount of unbalance. The Chinese would most likely be in support of my reaction because they believe the number 13 to be lucky. To fear this number, well, as That’s Not Chinese might say, “That’s not Chinese.”

 

Westerners (not the movies, the people) are to blame for this unfortunate situation. This ‘situation’ often results in no 13th floor or row in certain hotels, buildings, theaters or airplanes. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, actually, I love it, but 13 still exists in those situations, it is just disguised as 14. Westerners can be so foolish, it’s no wonder we have phobias. Yet, we have no problem comforting ourselves and attempting to calm our fears with a baker’s dozen of donuts. If you’ve ordered the baker’s dozen you know exactly what I’m talking about you devil dancer you. You purposely ordered the devil’s dozen hoping to get not 12, but 13 donuts. A phenomenon known, by me, as lucky unlucky luck. Fun fact: every now and again the baker’s dozen is 14, not 13, donuts. Again, 13 disguised as 14. Clever? Lucky? Unlucky? Maybe. Science would probably break it down to two causes: 1) Kindness 2) Public education. Public education + one dozen donuts = 13. Bad luck, no?

 

Turns out Westerners aren’t the only people with silly fears related to days of the week and numbers. Many Spanish-speaking countries and the Greeks consider Tuesday, especially Tuesday the 13th, an unlucky day. Shouldn’t Monday be the day we fear? We already dread it, why can’t we just fear it? That might provide a supported reason to not report to work after a long weekend. “Sorry boss, I won’t be coming in today. I’ve got monedaeivergophobia.” Like most reasons given when one calls in sick to work, I made this up. It’s a combination of the Old English version of Monday and the phrase ergophobia (fear of work). I added a ‘v’ to the mix, not for good luck or good measure, rather, because it makes it easier to say and, I believe, makes it look more official.

 

Beware, however, because if  you call in sick on Monday you’ll still have Tuesday looming. The Greeks fear Tuesday, with or without the 13th attached to it. Triti, that’s Tuesday to you non armlingual folks, is the third day of the week and is considered bad luck because it is believed that bad things come in threes. I would agree with the latter. Adding a third party to the bedroom never ends well and, like monedaeivergophobia, there isn’t a topical cream that can cure the trouble it may bring.

742 thoughts on “Friggatriskaidekaphobia”

  1. An established hotel would like hiring an applicant from a nicely-recognised school over the one who has graduated from a non-accredited establishment, even when their programs are basically the identical.

  2. Spot on with this write-up, I seriously believe this amazing site needs a great deal more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the information!

  3. If the Scottish Authorities is dithering as suggested then hopefully they’re at lengthy last coming to grips with the complicated indicators and utilising the wealth of young male and feminine farming hopefuls by strictly capping farming help to scale of enterprise, thereby rising stability of meals safety, increasing rural populations and self-sufficiency of rural communities as they develop rising working rural populations dependent on local cooperation and providers.

  4. Quite frankly unless you are quite experienced in the market, it usually is very difficult to fully understand most companies product, service and or financial evaluation and possible profit feasibility, in the future.

  5. Thanks a lot for your interesting article. I have been searching for such message for a very long time. Not all your content is completely clear to me, even though it is definitely interesting and worth reading.

  6. That is financing offered underneath a federal, state, or native program, the principal function of which is to provide subsidized financing for tasks designed to conserve or produce energy.

  7. Howdy! This post couldn’t be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I most certainly will send this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a very good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

  8. Earlier than we start composing cipher, it is best to analyze the format of the XML facts and numbers we’ll be utilising to burden our position data.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *