Triskaidekaphobia from Ancient Greek τρεισκαίδεκα (treiskaídeka) 'thirteen', and Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos) 'fear') is fear or avoidance of the number 13. The matter has entered popular custom, with many building manufacturers omitting "13" from their floor plans, instead having the numeration skip directly from 12 to 14.
The term was used as early as in 1910 by American psychoanalyst Isador Coriat in Abnormal Psychology. Prominent figures who allegedly suffered from triskaidekaphobia include Franklin D. Roosevelt and Stephen King.
Triskaidekaphobia in Every Inch a King[]
Triskaidekaphobia was an oddity common among Schlepsigians, but unknown to people in Lokris, despite the word being manufactured from the ancient Lokrian dialect. When Captain Tasos told Otto of Schlepsig and Max of Witte that Fushe-Kuqe had changed hands 13 times in its history, the Schlepsigians explained the custom to the Lokrian, who scratched his head in confusion.[1]
Triskaidekaphobia was so ingrained in Otto's psyche that he numbered the chapters in his autobiography accordingly. After Chapter XII came a page that was blank except for the note "Sorry - no Chapter XIII. It's unlucky." Then Chapter XIV began with a brief remark on the matter.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Every Inch a King, pgs. 102-103, tpb.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 200-201, tpb.
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