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Today's Word "triskaidekaphobia"

Fear concerning the number 13 on

Published in Vocabulary

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\ (noun) - Fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.

"Despite NASA's seemingly ingrained case of triskaidekaphobia, which forced managers to impose the bizarre, '13-free' numbering system on its flights, the crew of perhaps the most important Shuttle mission to date clearly were unsure if STS-41C was supposed to be unlucky or not." -- Ben Evans, 'Space Shuttle Challenger: Ten Journeys into the Unknown'

 

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.


 

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