Yikes

Unusual phobias:

  • albuminurophobia: fear of kidney disease
  • alliumphobia: fear of garlic
  • allodoxaphobia: fear of opinions
  • ancraophobia: fear of wind
  • anuptaphobia: fear of staying single
  • arachibutyrophobia: fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
  • atomosophobia: fear of atomic explosions
  • aulophobia: fear of flutes
  • aurophobia: fear of gold
  • barophobia: fear of gravity
  • caligynephobia: fear of beautiful women
  • cherophobia: fear of gaiety
  • deipnophobia: fear of dining or dinner conversations
  • euphobia: fear of hearing good news
  • geniophobia: fear of chins
  • genuphobia: fear of knees
  • hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: fear of long words
  • linonophobia: fear of string
  • lutraphobia: fear of otters
  • mottephobia: fear of moths
  • porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple
  • pteronophobia: fear of being tickled by feathers
  • scriptophobia: fear of writing in public
  • spheksophobia: fear of wasps
  • zemmiphobia: fear of the great mole rat

Politicophobia is defined as “abnormal” dislike of politicians.

| Trivia

The Wage Gap

Women’s pay as a percentage of men’s:

  • 1951: 63.9%
  • 1960: 60.7%
  • 1970: 59.4%
  • 1980: 60.2%
  • 1990: 71.6%
  • 2000: 73.3%

In sales jobs, women still earn only 59.9% of men’s wages.

| Society

Jerimoth Hill

If you’re visiting Rhode Island, you might be excused for wanting to visit Jerimoth Hill: It’s the highest point in the state.

Unfortunately, you’d be taking your life in your hands. Jerimoth is private property, and it’s owned by a singularly cranky 77-year-old named Henry Richardson, who monitors the trail with motion sensors. Here’s how he’s greeted other visitors:

  • Assaulted them verbally (“Shoot all the damn highpointers!” “Get the hell off my property!”)
  • Threatened to break cameras
  • Started fistfights
  • Let the air out of their car tires
  • Shot them with rock salt
  • Chased them through three states by car

Under pressure, Richardson’s son agreed in 1998 to let hikers visit the highpoint on national holidays. Before that, the 812-foot rise “was considered less accessable than Mt. McKinley.”

| Oddities

Six Stick Shifts Stuck Shut

Dangerous tongue twisters:

I am not the pheasant plucker,
I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate.
I am only plucking pheasants
Because the pheasant plucker’s late.

I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit;
and on the slitted sheet I sit.

I’m not the fig plucker,
Nor the fig pluckers’ son,
But I’ll pluck figs
Till the fig plucker comes.

| Language

Anagrams

Anagrams:

  • DEBIT CARD = BAD CREDIT
  • MOTHER-IN-LAW = WOMAN HITLER
  • SLOT MACHINES = CASH LOST IN ‘EM
  • DESPERATION = A ROPE ENDS IT
  • ASTRONOMER = MOON STARER
  • ELECTION RESULTS = LIES — LET’S RECOUNT

And SNOOZE ALARMS = ALAS! NO MORE Z’S.

| Language