Well, hey! Thanks for clicking by. The day just wouldn't be the same if you didn't. Help yourself to a mug of fresh coffee and cast your eye over that shelf of goodies. Something caught my eye the other day…no, I don't mean the picture of Pamela Anderson (Canadian, eh!) in yesterday's post. It was this odd fact:
Anatidaephobia is the fear that somewhere in the world, there is a duck watching you. Sounds a little daffy to me!
Sometime ago, I was telling you about Triskadekaphobia – fear of the number 13. Apparently, most of the people in the world have a fear of one kind or another. While most people suffer from pathophobia (fear of disease), monophobia (fear of being alone), glossophobia (fear of public speaking), algophobia (fear of pain), taphephobia (fear of being buried alive), and many more, there are also some less popular phobias. Some of them are quite amusing but likely not to those who suffer from them.
There are many people in the world that suffer from polyphobia,which simply means to have more than one fear. Not so common, people may suffer from antinomial phobias. For example, there are some people that live with vestiophobia (fear of clothes) and gymnophobia (fear of nudity). Another example is people with achluophobia (fear of darkness) and photophobia (fear of light).
One of the scariest phobias many people suffer from is pentheraphobia, the fear of their mother-in-law!
Some phobias have been in existence for thousands of years. I'm sure that brontophobia (fear of thunder and lightning), febriphobia (fear of fever), and ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) have existed since the Black Ages. Some of the phobias that have formed in the last two centuries would be electrophobia (fear of electricity), motorphobia (fear of automobiles), and aviophobia (fear of flying).
In 1945, a new phobia emerged and escalated in the 1950's. It was called nucleomituphobia - the fear or nuclear weapons. The newest phobia today is called cyberphobia (fear of computers). People who suffer from this phobia may be afraid to use a computer or an ATM. In today's society, technology is deeply integrated. Computers are used in calculators, cars, microwaves, power tools, and many more. Get used to it, eh!
If you have a phobia, there is still hope for you. Phobias can be cured. Remember when you were a child and suffered from clinophobia (fear of going to bed) because of bogyphobia (fear ofthe bogeyman), achluophobia (fear of darkness), and lachanophobia (fear of vegetables). Now chances are good that you go to bed without checking your closet or looking under your bed, that you don't go ballistic if the lights go out, and that you eat a salad every so often.
Phobias can deeply impact a person's life. A person with chronophobia (fear of time) probably won't make it to their 10:00 AM dentist appointment on time. A person with chaetophobia (fear of hair) is most likely bald, has no eyelashes, no eyebrows, etc. A person with cibophobia (fear of food) usually hasn't eaten in weeks and could easily be anorexic. This shows you how serious and destructive phobias can be.
If you do suffer from any strange phobias, I would suggest calling one-eight-hundred-phobias, for arithmophobics (people who fear numbers) or for logophobics (people who fear words), 1-800-635-1317 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-635-1317 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. This phone number is for entertainment purposes only.
Now, I didn't run through the whole list of phobias but I want to tell you about a few of my favourites (Can a person have a favourite phobia?):
Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof ofthe mouth
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of long words
Panophobia - Fear of everything
See ya ... and eat your broccoli!
Bob
Comment from Eva in Toronto:
Hi Bob -- with the growth of assets you have mentioned there is always a drawback -- the backaches must also be increasing.
What I am thinking also is that there might be a growth in sewing employment with the market expansion you have mentioned -- -plus would there be a danger of shortage in materials such as thread and elastic? Perhaps this might be a good industry to invest it??
Perhaps I should stop now.
eva
Bob's reply:
I agree with the backache problem and I sympathize. As for investing, I'm of two… minds here. Yes, it is a ‘growing' industry – one that is close to the heart of half of the population. Certainly it is one to keep abreast of but would you be able to compete with Spandex? What is needed here is a whole new concept, Eva. I'm not sure what that might be and don't think I even want to touch the subject except to say that it's always been a soft market and to con-firm that asset growth is important in any business.
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