From today's metro
hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - A fear of long words
I seriously hope that was intentional, as if not it's just to sweet to be true. It's like have a claustrophobic therapy session in a small room with sloping walls. And is this ironic, as in actually ironic not alanis ironic?
ergophobia - A fear of work
Also known as being a teenager.
1. graybo
How very sesquipedalian of you.
2. Adrian
Given my spelling I don’t think I would make a good sesquipedaliad.
3. Tom
I somehow doubt that hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is a genuine phobia in the sense that it’s a clever construct that sounds genuine but, in fact, is simply put together to be an amusing and intentionally long word to invoke the fear it is meant to describe.
All phobias are derived from ancient greek - acrophobia is fear of heights, claustrophobia is fear of enclosed spaces, triskaidecaphobia is fear of the number 13. But the derivation of this word is:
hippos = horse (greek) potamos = river (greek) monstrum = portent (latin - etymology of monster and monstrous) sesquipedalis = one and a half (latin - also means inordinately long.)
A sesquipedalian is someone who uses long words so this is closer to actually meaning something but the only problem is that it’s latin. To be a true phobia with a proper greek etymology, the word for “fear of long words” should be something like dolichologophobia - from dolichos (long) logos (word) and phobia (fear).
4. Adrian
Well according to the Wiktionary
Fanciful extension of sesqui(p)pedalophobia with monstrum “monster” and a truncated form of hippopotamus, intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared.
5. Tom
Should be blogging this myself!
6. matthew
Actually, according to the Indexed Phobia List, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia or Sesquipedalophobia are both correct for a ‘Fear Of Long Words’.
(Google is your friend)
7. Tom
Dictonary.com has only one reference to it and that’s from Websters. I wonder if it’s the word they put in to find out who copies their dictionary?
8. Tom
Matthew - it thorougly irritates the classical scholar in me to see that not only have the listed it on that page listed right below logophobia - the fear of words.
9. matthew
You have a classical scholar in you? That must be pretty uncomfortable, especially if it’s irritated.
My favourite from the list is ‘Arachibutyrophobia’, fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Some people are just weird.