© 2026 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

For Friday The 13th, Say It With Us: Paraskevidekatriaphobia (We'll Teach You How)

By NPR Staff
Published August 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM EDT
A page of a calender which reads 'Friday 13th' falls to the ground.
picture alliance via Getty Images
A page of a calender which reads 'Friday 13th' falls to the ground.

Updated May 13, 2022 at 6:48 AM ET

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."

Korva teaches us how to say paraskevidekatriaphobia

Happy Friday, y'all!

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
NPR Top Stories
NPR Staff
See stories by NPR Staff

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate

Related Content