First things first, because the word ‘Triskaidekaphobia’ means fear of the number thirteen.
For example, I never write a sentence with just thirteen words in it.
For others, the #13 has no more significance than other weird numbers like a 53 week year, 8 day week, Friday the thirteenth or a baker’s dozen.
Broken down the tris is ‘3 ’, the kai just means ‘and’, with deka meaning ‘10 ’, whilst the phobia is the ‘fear’ part.
Believers, like President Franklin Roosevelt, would never have 13 dinner guests or set place settings for thirteen people.
It is mainly in the English language speaking countries that number 13 (as well as the thirteenth letter M) is considered to be the "unlucky" number.
In some other countries 13 is considered to be a lucky number, instead of our lucky 7.
We, in Ireland’s 26 counties, (yikes, thats 2 x13) are not so superstitious, or are we?
Our vehicle registration process would seem to indicate so, what with no car bearing year 13 ?
The car registration plates began the century with years 00, 01, 02...06 and so forth all the way up to 12 and then we panicked.
We do not have any vehicles with 13D or 13MO and instead we substituted them with 131D, 131MO and later in the year with 132.
There are religious connotations too with 13 being the number of people at the Last Supper.
Some buildings don’t include a thirteenth floor and many hotels will not have a room 13 either and in the USA, certain cities do not have a Thirteenth Street at all and just skip from 12th to 14th.
OMG, I almost finished this cache with just 13 sentences, but thankfully I recovered my senses in time and this is the 14 thone.
**Congratulations to 'AbbeyAckbar' for FTF**