This week's theme: words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth
anniversary of Wordsmith.org.

triskaidekaphobia (tris-ky-dek-uh-FO-bee-uh) noun

   Fear of the number 13.

[From Greek treiskaideka (thirteen), from treis (three) + kai (and)
+ deka (ten) + phobia (fear)].

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: 
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=triskaidekaphobia

Why a fear of the number 13? It's one more than the dozen which leaves
one unlucky one out if you divide something in groups of two, three,
four, or six. It's also said that there were 13 people in the Last Supper.
Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky by many, while in some
cultures, in the Spanish-speaking world, for example, it's Tuesday the 13th
that is believed to be unlucky.

-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)

  "Chowrasia probably suffering from triskaidekaphobia bungled on
   the 13th and allowed Harmeet to get a firm grip on the title."
   Harmeet Takes Trophy; Hindu (Chennai, India); Dec 23, 2006.

This newsletter is made possible in part by these sponsors:

The Desk Drawer: Tired of hiding your words in a closet? Need critiques?
Ready for a nudge to write more? http://www.winebird.com/

Namix, providing smart naming solutions for products, services, and businesses:
http://namix.com

............................................................................
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. -Henry Ford,
industrialist (1863-1947)

Share the magic of words. Send a gift sub: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html

Remove, change, or subscribe address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/triskaidekaphobia.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/triskaidekaphobia.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/triskaidekaphobia.html

This message was sent to "[email protected]".

Reply via email to