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Word of the Day for Friday May 13, 2005
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
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,"
[1]Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
_________________________________________________________
Triskaidekaphobia is a fairly new word (first found in print
in 1911) formed from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka,
"thirteen" (treis, "three" + kai, "and" + deka, "ten") +
phobos, "fear." The adjective form is triskaidekaphobic. One
who fears the number 13 is a triskaidekaphobe or
triskaidekaphobic.
There are many [2]theories about the origin of
triskaidekaphobia. In medieval Christian countries the number
13 came to be 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 would be regarded as especially
unlucky.
Some famous triskaidekaphobes1:
* Napoleon
* Herbert Hoover
* Mark Twain
* Richard Wagner
* Franklin Roosevelt
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
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,"
[1]Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
_________________________________________________________
Triskaidekaphobia is a fairly new word (first found in print
in 1911) formed from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka,
"thirteen" (treis, "three" + kai, "and" + deka, "ten") +
phobos, "fear." The adjective form is triskaidekaphobic. One
who fears the number 13 is a triskaidekaphobe or
triskaidekaphobic.
There are many [2]theories about the origin of
triskaidekaphobia. In medieval Christian countries the number
13 came to be 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 would be regarded as especially
unlucky.
Some famous triskaidekaphobes1:
* Napoleon
* Herbert Hoover
* Mark Twain
* Richard Wagner
* Franklin Roosevelt