Today is Friday the 13th. In American culture, 13 is an unlucky number (7 is lucky), and Friday the 13th is especially bad. cloud hosting info In fact, there is a series of horror films named after this unlucky day. Friday used to be considered an unlucky day in general, but that has mostly been forgotten, perhaps because the invention of the weekend has made people much happier about Friday!
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. The word comes from Greek: tris = three; kai = and; deka = ten; phobia = fear. It has inspired some strange efforts by hotels, airlines and others to avoid that number. Next time you are on an elevator in a tall building, look to see if the numbers jump from 12 to 14.
Friggatriskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia are less-well known words that both mean the fear of Friday the 13th.
What is your lucky – or unlucky – number?
