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NPR Staff, NPR

For Friday the 13th, say it with us: Paraskevidekatriaphobia (we'll teach you how)

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A calendar page for Friday the 13th falls to the ground.
A page of a calender which reads "Friday 13th" falls to the ground.
picture alliance | picture alliance via Getty Image

Here's the deal. We can't help you with your fear of Friday the 13th. Who are we to judge? Some of us are afraid of cantaloupes or crumpets. Or holes.

What we can do is tell you that your fear has a name: paraskevidekatriaphobia — and we can teach you how to say it.

Will it help? Who knows? Keep repeating it and your mind will be so occupied that before you know it, you'll land on Saturday the 14th!

So here goes:

"Break it down into syllables," says Korva Coleman, our resident expert on pronunciations. "When you take a look at that middle "i" after the "v" ... it's pronounced like a double "e."

Learn to say paraskevidekatriaphobia
by NPR

Happy Friday, y'all!

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.