Laura Brown looks into some of the more unusual fears folk have.
PHOBIAS are no laughing matter, but their convoluted names are often rather ridiculous. Lots of them have fascinating etymological roots, while others are to be taken with a large pinch of salt. But this might be easier said than done if you have halophobia, or a horror of salty foods!
Luckily, there’s no sophophobia (dread of learning) here at the “Friend”, so we went in search of some of the weirdest words for our deepest fears . . . ■
Arachibutyrophobia
Being scared of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth is completely understandable, especially if you’ve ever been rendered speechless by an overambitious glob of Sun-Pat.
Appropriately, “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz used the term in one of his strips in 1982 – though it was invented years before, presumably by someone with an enthusiastic appetite for nut-based spreads!
Nomophobia
One for the digital age, nomophobia is a fear of being without a mobile phone.
Unlike other phobias, which usually have Latin or Greek etymology, this one breaks from tradition, Indeed, it is an abbreviation of English – it stands for “No Mobile Phobia”.
Key symptoms include frantic patting of the pockets, the frenzied tipping-out of handbags, and a series of increasingly dramatic squeaks emitting from the mouth of the afflicted.
Friggatriskaidekaphobia
Feeling a bit wary of Friday the 13th is pretty common, particularly for the superstitious among us.
Some people might avoid travelling on that day, or at the very least steer clear of ladders and magpies.
But when that abundance of caution turns into a full-blown phobia, then it’s known as “friggatriskaidekaphobia” or “paraskevidekatriaphobia”.
Luckily for sufferers, there won’t be another Friday the 13th until September 2024!
Pantophobia
Is this a chronic fear of pantomimes? Oh no, it isn’t!
It’s the phobia of absolutely everything.
But if pantos and the like do strike a particular terror into your heart, you might be suffering from masklophobia, a fear of people in masks and costumes – or perhaps metamfiezomaiophobia, which encompasses clowns, mime acts and all sorts of disguises.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Spare a thought for those scared of long words, because the word for that phobia is incredibly lengthy.
It’s sometimes written “hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” ��
