There are many superstitions about Friday the 13th. But whether you’re superstitious or not, the fact that 85% of tall buildings in the U.S. skip floor 13 shows most of us don’t take any chances with the number 13.
So if you’re worried about leaving the house today, we have sure-fire (and highly unscientific) cure: just say this 23-character word, “paraskevidekatriaphobia,” three time fast. What’s paraskevidekatriaphobia? That’s the fear of Friday the 13th, of course.
We came across a couple of other hard-to-pronounce terms for phobias. Did you know that “nomophobia” is the fear of being without a mobile device? Or that, ironically, the 36-character word “hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” is the fear of long words?
Assuming you weren’t struck by lightning while reading this, here are 13 more facts you might not know about Friday the 13th. Stay safe out there.
Entefy’s enFacts are illuminating nuggets of information about the intersection of communications, artificial intelligence, security and cyber privacy, and the Internet of Things. Have an idea for an enFact? We would love to hear from you.