# Would having these not suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763 "2001-08-17T16:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@Arwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/1 "2001-08-17T16:49:11Z")
Epistemophobia/Gnosiophobia- Fear of knowledge Genuphobia- Fear of knees Linonophobia- Fear of string Numerophobia- Fear of numbers And the ultimate… Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything Life would be truly awful with these phobias… Does anyone know the word for “fear of ducks”? ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/2 "2001-08-17T16:57:07Z")
Terrible indeed. I think the worst though is phobiaphobia, fear of fear itself. I suffer from that occasionally, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/3 "2001-08-17T16:59:46Z")
I think FDR had phobiaphobia. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/4 "2001-08-17T17:02:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arwen \* > \*\*Linonophobia- Fear of string > \*\* Boy, does that bring back bad memories…You see, my sister had this when she was about three years old. She’d scream at the top of her lungs whenever she saw a string, and if something she was wearing had a loose thread, she’d fly into a panic until someone cut it off. I remember one night she threw a screaming fit that lasted 45 minutes. I thought for sure the neighbors were going to call the police, figuring that somebody was beating her. In answer to your question, yes, it would suck to have that. > [@](#): > > **Epistemophobia/Gnosiophobia- Fear of knowledge** I know quite a few people who seem to have that. They’re not unhappy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/5 "2001-08-17T17:50:29Z")
The late British Financier Sir James Goldsmith is reported to have abandoned his plans to fly somewhere when he noticed an elastic band on the floor of the aeroplane. Interestingly, a couple of nuns followed him off the plane. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/6 "2001-08-17T18:43:20Z")
Don’t forget **aibohphobia** - fear of palindromes. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/7 "2001-08-17T21:51:21Z")
gymnophobia - fear of nudity. Poor bastards. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/8 "2001-08-17T21:55:23Z")
Hmm, fear of ducks - don’t know. How about: **Wascalyphobia** fear of gray wabbits **Fuddophobia** fear of hunters ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/9 "2001-08-17T22:34:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by galen ubal \* > \*\* Hmm, fear of ducks - don’t know. \*\* Anatidaephobia. (sp?) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/10 "2001-08-18T00:06:31Z")
I humbly submit [The Phobia Finder](http://www.tesarta.com/www/resources/phobias/phobiafinder.php3). ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/11 "2001-08-18T02:16:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arwen \* > \*\* > Genuphobia- Fear of knees > \*\* I think I have this. I mean, i don’t try to run away from my own knees, but I cant stand anyone touching them, or touching anyone elses knees, or even THINKING about touching other people’s knees! The idea about anything happening to them…:shudder:. There is no way in HELL any doctor is gonna perform that reflex test on me!! My boyfriend cant even rest his hand on my knee! I freak out! And if he’s giving me a leg massage (a necessary thing since Im a waitress) if he even comes CLOSE to my knees, I freak, and he has to start all over again! He says it’s all nonsense…now I know…there is an actual phobia! Is there one for navels, too?I’m the same way with navels! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-having-these-not-suck/76763/12 "2001-08-18T02:24:11Z")
Just to elaborate on my fear - friends of mine used to joke that the best way to torture someone was to use a corkscrew on the kneecap - it wasn’t unil I begged them to stop, almost crying, and they saw that I was gripping my chair with white knuckles that they stopped! They thought it merely creeped me out, while I was actually scared of someone doing that to me! :shudder: