Triskaidekophobia

Triskaidekophobia. The one seven-syllable word almost everyone knows.

And that's because almost everyone has it. Triskaidekophobia--morbid fear of Friday the 13th.

Or 13 in any form. You won't find a Floor 13 in any high-rise.

Okay, how come? Why this irrational fear of a number? The most common explanation is that there were thirteen persons present at the Last Supper, and that led to very bad news.

But we don't know there were only thirteen in the Upper Room that fateful Passover. And the number thirteen has no recurring significance in either the New Testament or the Old. The numbers that seem to have meaning are three and forty, sometimes ten and certainly twelve.

Three is still big--three on a match, three times lucky, three strikes and you're out.

But only thirteen has a song written for it. And the song is, of course--"Triskaidekophobia."