Phobia: Fear of…
Dear Aimee, I think you won the jackpot with this one.
When I first discovered the fear of long words was a thing, I was relieved.
This was when I was transitioning from primary school to secondary school and those inter-science terms were looking like Latin to me (which they were in a way).
Why on earth must I learn all these long and cumbersome words when a simple word can just be used to name it, I asked often. I imagined scores of scientists gathering together in one room giving names to things, and congratulating each other on a job well done.
Finally, I was not alone I thought. All those cold sweats and fear of missing out on one letter because the letter was silent e.g. Pneumonia. However, this relief was short-lived when I realised that the name of the fear of long words was a long word.
How ironic wouldn’t you say?
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Just wow, just wow.
Thankfully, it is more of a social phobia, however, it differs for different people. If yours is intense, please seek therapy.
Another word for it is Sesquipedalophobia, just a little bit less scary. It is the formally recognised word for the disorder.
At 36 words, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the second-longest English word. Learn how to pronounce them here and here. You are welcome.
So who should we thank, gratefully for these long and mind-numbing words? Let me introduce Aimee Nezhukumatathil, an American poet who thought that it would make for an amusing wordplay in 2000 and added Hippopotomonstro to Sesquipedalophobia.
I had assumed it was going to be a man because why not but she turned out to be female. After reading about her, I decided to rest my case. She sure knows her onions. I have put her Miracle Fruit on my to-read list.
However, when researching, I read that the word was first mentioned in Introduction to Psychology: Exploration and Application, second edition (1980), by Dennis Coon on page 455 which includes this footnote:
*Obviously by combining the appropriate root word with the word phobia, any number of unlikely fears can be named. Some are acarophobia, a fear of itching, zemmiphobia, fear of the great mole rat, nictophobia, fear of backing into doorknobs; phobosophobia, fear of fear; and hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, fear of long words!
If that is the case, then shouldn’t Dennis Coon be the one who coined the word and I was right after all? The game is afoot. Whoever it is, thank you. You gave me a few sleepless nights.
One of the tricks I learned in primary school and that still helps me to date is breaking it into bits i.e. ice-cream, e-le-phant, cro-co-dile, intro-duct-tive, hip-po-po-ta-mus etc. The pronunciation is another thing. However, thank God for Teachers, Google and YouTube.
You can tell that someone learnt a word by reading instead of hearing it spoken first by how they pronounce it. It is nothing to be ashamed of, as long as one takes the correction and moves on.
Whatever fear you have, the first step is believing you can overcome it. Seeds don’t do so well in sandy soil. Breathe positivity into your life. It might not be easy but take one step at a time and slowly, you will break out of the cage.
It might take years, just make sure you are on the path to recovery. The place of God and loved ones in helping us become better can’t be displaced either. It is okay to be afraid but it is not okay to stay in it. You must do something, you must overcome whatever it is. Your victory might just be what someone needs to overcome theirs.
So fight and win.
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