Heh. Today is Friday the 13th, and I didn’t even notice.
Oh yeah, that’s because superstitions are dumb. Forgot there for a sec.
Update: Oh, duh: I should have linked to Bob Carroll’s Skeptic Dictionary. He spells it triskaidekaphobia though.
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July 13th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is all I have to say
July 13th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Spelling?
tris·kai·dek·a·pho·bi·a [tris-kahy-dek-uh-foh-bee-uh]
–noun — fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.
Spelling as per dictionary.com. Paraskevidekatriaphobia is not in their database.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:35 am
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. fear of the number 666. also see ‘fear of jim carrey performing in serious roles.’
July 13th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Huh… I didn’t notice it either. Not that I would have cared, but I generally take notice just because everyone else takes notice. It’s funny on the one day no one who cares takes notice and reminds me, it’s Phil of all people who reminds me what today supposedly means.
I just bought plane tickets and my seats are in row 14… but of course, we know which row they are really in, don’t we? Is there a special name for ‘fear of sitting in row 13 on an airplane’? Maybe aerotriskaidekaphobia?
July 13th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Paraskevidekatriaphobia ought to be fear of Friday the thirteenth, but I haven’t heard the word before either.
@Wieslawa: Dieses Blog beschaeftigt sich mit Astronomie. Vielleicht haben Sie ein anderes Website gesucht.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:48 am
“Paraskevi” is actually Modern Greek for Friday – the Ancient Greeks not having our calendar – and “dekatria” (pronounced ‘thekatria’) likewise is Modern Greek for 13 so it’s about right with phobia on the end.
Have to get back under my protective, parapsycholgical security blanket now though…watch out for “mavpes ykates”.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:48 am
The only reason I ever notice is because I was born on a 13, unfortunately it was a Thursday (although most people do ask if it was a Friday). I always have to laugh when people act like “poor you”. I usually tell people that it’s my lucky day, and I usually go out of my way to pick 13 for things (like plane seats) just to freak people out!
July 13th, 2007 at 11:09 am
My local newspaper reports a Berlin researcher who says that Friday the 13th is a modern myth and the earliest reference to Friday the thirteenth being unlucky is in a woo book published in 1950 and there are absolutely no earlier references for this supposed superstition.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:20 am
My mom was born on the 13th.
My wife was born on the 13th.
My daughter was born on the 12th, because the doctors weren’t available to do the c-section on the 13th. But she did get married on the 13th.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Thorny C.
Almost certainly incorrect. I say almost, because I can’t quite prove it right away! Behold:
1. I am a fan of formula 1 motor racing
2. All F1 cars carry a number (like football jerseys). Each car keeps the same number for a year. (these days based on where they finished in the previous years results).
3. No F1 car carries the number 13 – for luck!
4. The F1 world championship started in 1950.
5. The first race that year was 13th May in Britain
6. 23 Cars were registered for the race, numbering 1-24 missing out 13. (evidence for this can be found here: http://forix.autosport.com/gp.php?l=0&r=19500001&c=1 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_British_Grand_Prix)
So, by at least May 1950 13 was not used on the cars. I suppose the superstition could have sprung up in the first 5 months of the year, but that’s unlikely.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Wait a minute, here! You people are acting like you don’t believe in the Power of “Friday the 13th”… Well, the first film wasn’t too bad, I guess. I liked “Nightmare On Elm Street” a lot more, actually!
July 13th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
My wife and I intentionally married on a Friday the 13th so that every Friday the 13th would be an “anniversary”. (Average of 2-3 per year, 2005 only had 1).
July 13th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Dinky,
Thony C. claimed that the __Friday the 13th__ myth was started in 1950, not that the superstition of unlucky 13 was started in 1950.
July 13th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
I’m not certain of the source for this, so mayhap it’s superfluous to mention it, but I was under the impression the number 13 as unlucky stemmed from there being 13 people at the last supper?
Anybody familiar with THAT aspect of the myth?
GAry 7
July 13th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Today, work took me out for lunch. Then to see Transformers. And when we got back to the office, there was beer and sushi.
…
Friday the 13th is AWESOME!
July 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Thony C. Says: “My local newspaper reports a Berlin researcher who says that Friday the 13th is a modern myth and the earliest reference to Friday the thirteenth being unlucky is in a woo book published in 1950 and there are absolutely no earlier references for this supposed superstition.”
Well, it is a relatively modern myth, but not as modern as you mention.
Snopes has a pretty good write up at:
http://www.snopes.com/luck/friday13.asp
Here’s the money quote (near the bottom):
Books of English folklore generally cite a 1913 Notes & Queries reference as the earliest known expression of Friday the 13th as a day of evil luck, and this corresponds to what we found when we searched The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times for similar references. In both newspapers the first mentions of the ill-fated date occured in 1908. It’s interesting to note that this very early reference to Friday the 13th already describes it as being an “ancient superstition.”
July 13th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
This phobia is one of my biggest pet peeves. When I booked an airplane flight a long time ago (the only time I can remember doing so by phone before using the Internet), after expressing my aisle/window preference, the agent meekly asked me if some seat in row 13 was OK. I didn’t get the significance, so I asked “Why?”, thinking that maybe there was something actually undesirable about it that I wasn’t aware of. I had to laugh at the explanation, wondering if people actually imagine that row 13 will be involved in some terrible, fiery accident, on the same flight that the passengers in every other row have a perfectly normal, uneventful trip!
Then, the next time I flew by plane a number of years later, I happened to be assigned a seat in row 14. After row 11, I stopped looking up at the labels and visually counted the last three. I almost asked someone to get out of my seat, but double-checked the labels and saw that the airline had skipped 13. Aargh!
July 13th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
I didn’t care what the date was until someone at work mentioned it in a dramatic way: “So, today’s FRIDAY the THIRTEENTH!!”
“Oh, it is?” I responded. “Who cares?”
One guy actually agreed with my feelings, which gave me some hope that there are at least some rational people out there.
I’d almost wish that bad things would happen to superstitious freaks who refuse to leave their homes on Friday the 13th for fear that something bad might happen, but then that would only prove their delusions right in their own minds.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:55 am
‘Megalomaniackopoliticktickhubrisphobia’ is my nemesis.
July 14th, 2007 at 1:34 am
If I ever get a cat, I’ll intentionally choose a black one
July 14th, 2007 at 5:12 am
Steve P.
You’re right. Ooops.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:30 am
I had heard that the superstition had its origin with the Knights Templar. As I recall, the mass arrest leading to executions occured on Friday October 13. The surviving Templars would certainly consider that day to be unlucky – at least for their comrades.
The surviving Templars, of course, went on to become the Illuminati, and secretly rule the world for their own nefarious ends – bwahahahaha.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:32 am
My problem is with Saturday 14th, it always does a sneak attack when you think you have survived Friday 13th.
Back to 13
What about Apollo 13?
I heard that after that incident, NASA never had the number 13 in any other mission.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:41 am
We played our ‘University Challenge’ quarter-final match against Birkbeck College on Friday 13th November, 1998.
I figured it couldn’t be unlucky for both teams. Turned out it was unlucky for Birkbeck.
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July 14th, 2007 at 5:51 am
@Jack Hagerty
It might well be that the Berlin researcher was refering to its first appearence in Germany or in German. We often take over things from America with a time lapse. Mothering Sunday (Mothers Day) was introduced into Germany from America many years after the Americans first created it. In the last ten yeras or so we have, to my horror, taken over the American Halloween with its trick or treating and people are already trying to sell it as an old traditions!
July 14th, 2007 at 6:14 am
Triskedekaphobia is alive and well.
While going through the pre-surgical testing reports on the 12th (for surgeries scheduled for the following day), I noticed that the pile was exceeding small. Exactly one surgery was scheduled on a day we would typically expect 15-20.
I imagine even among those that would normally scoff at superstition, they might think, “Well, I don’t HAVE to do this on Friday the 13th, so let’s just be extra safe… you know… just in case.”
OEJ
July 14th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
More often than not we are required by the client to leave the thirteenth floor designation off new hotels and office blocks–the lift buttons skip from 12 to 14. Ironically for most of our Asian visitors the number 4 is “unlucky”.
July 15th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Well, I’m not superstitious anyway – that would only bring bad luck.
July 15th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
My vasectomy was originally for a Friday the 13th, but the surgery was booked up, so had to be on the 11th. When booking, the receptionist asked me, “Are you SURE you want it on Friday?” I said, “Yes, but my wife doesn’t want me to have it at all.”
July 15th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Next month, Friday the 13th will come on a MONDAY.
So everybody watch out!
July 16th, 2007 at 3:41 am
We are doomed anyway
It rained on Sunday 15 July (St Swithun’s day) so it will rain for 40 days now!
or will it
July 17th, 2007 at 4:32 am
Pogo always had a reference to Friday the 13th on the 13th of any month, whether it fell on a Friday or not. Typically something bad would happen to one of the characters and someone would comment “Friday the 13th come on a Tuesday this month!” I think Ol’ Walt was mocking the superstition, not supporting it.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I niticed only because my 10 year old spent the day running around chanting “Triskaidekaphobia” all day. He thinks its a cool word.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I noticed because I was at Busch Gardens, Florida on the 13th, and it was surprisingly empty as theme parks go. I spent some time trying to work out why this might be. Short queues for all the rides. Had a glorious day!
Back in England now, nursing my sunburn.