Best word of the day so far
This must be the most useful word of the day delivered to my mailbox so far:
“triskaidekaphobia triss-kye-deh-kuh-FOH-bee-uh (noun) : fear of the number 13
It’s impossible to say just how or when the number thirteen
got its bad reputation. There are a number of theories, of
course. Some say it comes from the Last Supper, because Jesus
was betrayed afterwards by one among the thirteen present.
Others trace the source of the superstition much farther back,
to ancient Hindu beliefs or Norse mythology. But if written
references are any indication, the phenomenon isn’t all that
old (at least, not among English speakers). Known mention of
fear of thirteen in print dates back only to the late 1800s. By
circa 1911, however, it was prevalent enough to merit a name,
which was formed by attaching the Greek word for “thirteen” -- to “phobia” (“fear
“treiskaideka” (dropping that first “e”)
of”).”
ok. now I have heard about it. could you now be so kind as to explain what it means? I guess it's got something to do with passover preparations, but my Greek is non-existent.
katatonik (Apr 15, 01:26 pm) #
no, it hasn't - just with the ordinary, every-week shabbat preparations. yeah, paraskeuê does mean 'preparation', but christianized greeks (or those who had got well acquainted with their jewish business partners) from the 1st century to this day have been using the word to denote 'friday'. (by the way, the classical greeks didn't have a calendar, but they did call the days of the week after planet god/desse/s, and it wouldn't do at all for any christian to say 'jesus died on the day of aphrodite!')
paraskeuiatriskaidekaphobia means being morbidly afraid of friday, the 13th - not the fear as such being morbid, but the excess of it. friday 13th is a real menace, of course. especially to me: I am thursday the TWELFTH, and whenever friday 13th comes it (or is it he?) completely annihilates me!
thursday (Apr 16, 01:29 pm) #
many thanks for the enlightening remarks. i hadn't known that weekdays are annihilated when others come. always thought they just recede into the twilight zone, where they have a few cocktails until the bell rings and - a week later - they come forward again. but come to think of it - you're not just thursday, but thursday the twelfth. how come you post here when you've been annihilated a long time ago?
katatonik (Apr 17, 01:42 am) #