Becky Clark

Do You Have Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia?

If you do, you’re probably cowering under your covers instead of reading this because today is Friday the 13th. Both of those delightfully king-sized words describe a fear of this supposedly evil and unlucky day. Paraskavedekatriaphobia comes from the Greek word for Friday, Paraskevi. Here’s how to pronounce it …

Friggatriskaidekaphobia comes from the Norse Goddess for Friday—Frigg— in mythology. Here’s how to pronounce it …

And there’s another fun word— triskaidekaphobia— which is the fear of the number thirteen. Here’s how to pronounce it …

Commit these to memory and you can win bar bets galore and any game of Scrabble, assuming you amend the rules allowing for the turning of corners.

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I’m not particularly superstitious, although I love that commercial that plays during football games with fans doing ridiculous things so their team wins. “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.” Not that I’ve worn my lucky Bronco socks and only eaten blue and orange food for the day. That would be silly. And clearly doesn’t work.

I’m not mocking anyone who has this phobia because at least 8% of the American population suffers from it. Symptoms can range from mild nervous giggling to full-blown panic attacks and refusing to leave home that day.

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This fear has its seeds throughout history and across cultures and religions. In British culture, for instance, public hangings took place on Fridays and there were 13 steps to the gallows.

Conversely, the number 12 is associated with goodness or completeness—12 days of Christmas, 12 months, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 Krispy Kremes in a box, and such.

Personally, I think it’s simply a case of confirmation bias. If you’re superstitious about Friday the 13th, you’ll notice all the unlucky things you encounter on that day. But those unlucky things are just as likely to happen on Wednesday the 18th—you just don’t care or notice.

In National Geographic I read, “In other countries, Friday the 13th isn’t unlucky. For instance, in Spain, Tuesday the 13th is considered the day to dread. And in Italy, people fear the 17th day of any month. Why? Because the Roman numeral XVII (17) can be rearranged to spell “VIXI,” which means “my life is over” in Latin. But no one can prove that more terrible things occur on those days, either.”

Now, I said I didn’t have many superstitions, but then I started thinking about it. I don’t walk under ladders. I knock wood. I hunt for four-leaf clovers. I keep an old horseshoe going the right direction so the luck doesn’t run out. And I never, ever, EVER stepped on a crack lest I broke my mother’s back.

I have been known to gleefully break chain letters, however.

What about you? Are you superstitious? What are some of the funny ones you’ve heard? Does Friday the 13th hold any sway over you?

38 thoughts on “Do You Have Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia?”

  1. I have heard of triskaidekaphobia before but not the other two Friday the 13th phobias! Not sure why it Friday the 13th was considered unlucky. Nope, I am not particularly worried about today…otherwise I would not have picked it as a travel day. Flying from Ottawa ON to Vancouver BC tonight for a 10-day solo vacation to attend the Vancouver Literary Festival, and the Crime Writers of Canada local writers event. And of course, I am going to eat a lot of amazing food, and hope to do plenty of walking, hiking and cycling while I’m there.
    (Grace, in case WP makes me as Anon)

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    4. Ah, Grace, I bet the Vancouver Literary Fest will be stellar! I won’t wish you a good time, because I know you ALWAYS have a good time when you travel. I will wish you plenty of good luck though … no travel delays or lumpy beds!

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  2. I knew there was a phobia but didn’t know what it was called. I don’t call for Friday the 13th but I wouldn’t say that I have a fear of it. I thought I was going to be able to stay home today and then I received a call from my doctor’s office asking if I could come in today to be seen.

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      1. I have low blood pressure which causes me to pass out at times. They think I don’t get enough fluids so I have to go for IV therapy for a few days and then go back to my doctor. That’s my Friday the 13th so far.

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  3. My wife was born on a Friday the 13th, so it’s not unlucky in our house. 13 is her favorite number too. All that matters to me is that it’s Fri-yay!

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  4. Fascinating info, Becky. I don’t focus much on Friday the 13th (I usually think of the movie, which I have never seen). It’s historically been a lucky day for me since I was a kid. I used to hate Fridays in general back then, though, because it meant those god-awful fish sticks were on the menu in the school cafeteria. Just the smell made me nauseated. Re: luck, I do cross my fingers during takeoff on planes and for a while after. And I’m partial to 4-leaf clovers.

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    2. I’ve never seen it either, Lisa. I know just enough about it to know that’s not a movie I’d enjoy! Ugh, cafeteria fish sticks. Now THERE’S some bad luck!

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  5. I don’t have a particular obsession with the number 13 or the Friday of the same name. However, as a scientist, I recognize the existence of what I call high entropy days. These are the days when all the little things go wrong – the fridge goes out, you step on a piece of cat food in your bare feet and spill hot coffee on your shins, the car doesn’t start and you get a letter saying you’re being audited by the IRS. For me, HEDs don’t seem to be associated with particular dates or days of the week, they just happen at random. That figures, because randomness is the nature of entropy, isn’t it?

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    4. That’s a good observation, Tom. And doesn’t it seem that so often when one thing goes wrong, it turns into an avalanche? It’s similar to celebrity deaths seeming to come in threes. I bet it all falls under the heading of confirmation bias.

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  6. Loved learning these new-to-me words! I’m meh about Friday the 13ths. Actually, in Chinese culture, 13 is sorta lucky. It represents growth, and “3” is a homophone for “life” or “birth.”

    P.S. I do like tossing salt over my shoulder for fun–but only when it’s not too messy!

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    1. I was reading about the cultures that think 13 is lucky, but I didn’t include any because it ruined my premise. ha! The salt over the shoulder is interesting too. Apparently, the superstition is that if you spill salt it’s bad luck, so you’re supposed to take a pinch of it and throw it over your left shoulder (where the devil sits) to cancel it out. Probably because you’ve blinded him.

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    1. Whenever I fly, I always see someone touch the outside of the plane as they step in. It makes me wonder how many people actually do that, since I only see the six or eight people in front of me.

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  8. Well, I followed (or tried) pronunciation lady three times. It’s safe to say that will not be used by me in my Words with Friends game anytime soon!

    I can’t say I’m superstitious, but I do knock wood. I also follow the unsaid superstition of ‘buy the favorite authors book before or no later than by their release day or I’m dead to them.’ 😃

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    1. Well, that’s just good common sense, Tracy! And you’re right about the pronounciation … tongue twisting. You know the thing about readers, though. We mispronounce stuff all the time because we only see fancy words in writing and never hear anyone say them!

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  9. Santa Monica, where I grew up, has numbered streets from 2nd to 26th (there’s no 1st, but there’s both a 21st Street and 21st Place–go figure). But instead of 13th Street, that road is named Euclid. Which I always thought amusing, since Euclid was, of course, a mathematician, who was most likely not at all superstitious about that particular number.

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  10. Thanks for all the fun info. I’m not superstitious but I have a square coin from Curacao that I don’t know how I obtained. I’ve had it longer than I can remember and I always have it in my change purse. I don’t really believe it has any power, but it’s fun to pretend. However, I don’t walk under ladders for safety reasons. Why take a chance on something falling on me or me bumping the ladder and getting someone else hurt?

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    1. That’s so funny! I was going to say that walking under a ladder is kind of a stupid thing to do anyway. Maybe that’s why people have bad luck when they do!

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  11. In the immortal words of The Office’s Michael Scott, I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.

    Friday the 13th doesn’t hold much sway over me, but I do find myself looking for “signs.” I think some of that is wanting to avoid a task. Finnicky vacuum? Must be a sign I shouldn’t do housework!

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  12. Love the vocabulary knowledge!

    I don’t think of myself as being overly superstitious but I do knock on wood when I hear something I don’t want to happen mentioned out loud…and I also throw salt over my shoulder if it spills…though that one I never understood because then you just have to clean up twice as much salt!

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