PARASKEVIDEKATRIAPHOBIA

Just for fun, I always say that 13 is my lucky number as I am definitely NOT superstitious;  I also say that my "sign" is either STOP or YIELD, rather than admitting to a knowledge of astrology.

Recently a friend told me that I was incorrect in saying that TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA is the term for the fear of Friday the 13th;  the actual correct word is PARASKEVIDEKATRIAPHOBIA.

See the article from The Urban Dictionary:  Of course, I love the last line:  "Though it has a serious use in psychology, it seems to exist mostly to provide an opportunity for people like me to show off weird words from classical languages."

Triskaidekaphobia 

Fear of the number 13.  

Strictly, the word does refer only to fear of the number 13, but it’s often extended to mean fear of the inauspicious date Friday 13th.  Every year has at least one Friday the 13th.   The word’s origins are all Greek, from tris, “three”, kai, “and”, deka, “ten” (so making thirteen), plus phobia, “fear, flight”. The word is a modern formation, dating only from 1911 (it first appeared in I H Coriat’s Abnormal Psychology). Though it has a serious use in psychology, it seems to exist mostly to provide an opportunity for people like me to show off weird words from classical languages. I'm triskaidekaphobic (no I'm not).

Hear the song TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA: