Paraskavedekatriaphobia: the fear of Friday the thirteenth

By Hayley Birch

What's so scary about it?
Nobody really knows. The whole idea of Friday 13th being unlucky is probably only about a hundred years old, and it's not a universal superstition either. In Spain and Greece Tuesday 13th is considered to be particularly unlucky. The word paraskavedekatriaphobia comes from Greek - it means Friday, thirteen, phobia. Wow, who thought that one up?

What do the scientists say about it?
Silence. Or "hesychia" as they might say in Greece.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia: True or False?
What have we learned from this? Not a lot. Just a bit of Greek. I suppose if you happen to be very superstitious Friday 13th could be considered a scary day. But then if you were really superstitious, you would have researched this one properly and realised it was just something someone had made up in 1900 for a bit of a laugh and that Friday 13th is no more scary than any other thirteenth. Utter rubbish.

Back to Top Ten Weird Phobias

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