Today is the ever-so-gloomy Friday the 13th. In case you were curious, Wikipedia has this to say about the number 13: It is the smallest integer with eight letters in its spelled out name in English. Wow, thanks I always wondered which was the smallest integer with eight letters.
Anyway, to educate all you readers (Jenny, and maybe one or two others) I thought I would do some research on Friday the 13th for you.
It turns out that there is a condition known as Paraskevidekatriaphobics which is an irrational fear of Friday the 13th. This fear of today's date seems absurd to me. In doing further research I found that the whole Friday the 13th thing is relatively new. On their own, Friday and the number 13 have been known as being unlucky for a long time. Friday the 13th doesn't get mentioned in E. Cobham Brewer's voluminous Dictionary of Phrase and Fable until the 1898 edition. Basically it says that:
UNLUCKY FRIDAY + UNLUCKY 13 = UNLUCKIER FRIDAY.
I wouldn't go as far to say that I am a Paraskevidekatriaphobic, but I would say that if I was afraid of any day it would be Friday the 13th. So go about your day in a normal fashion, but if strange things happen to you.... it's probably just your imagination.
1 comments:
I appreciate your research Colls
Post a Comment