[net.nlang] fear of 13

colonel@gloria.UUCP (George Sicherman) (11/05/84)

> > (***triskadecaphobic: Someone with an irrational fear of the number 13.)
> 
> (Sorry.)  Actually it's 'triskadekaphobic' (note spelling) and the forms are:
> 	'triskadekaphobe' -- one who is afraid of the number 13 (noun)
> 	'triskadekaphobic' -- afraid of the number 13 (adj.)
> 	'triskadekaphobia' -- fear of the number 13 (noun)
> though I imagine that 'triskadekaphobic' could be a parallel construction to
> 'paraplegic' et al.

"Deca" is an accepted variant of "deka"; in particular, the metric system
uses "deca."

I have also seen "triskai-"; "kai" is Greek for "and."
-- 
Col. G. L. Sicherman
...seismo!rochester!rocksanne!rocksvax!sunybcs!gloria!colonel