Thanks to Dave Coverly for letting me post his Speed Bump cartoon.
http://www.speedbump.com/
http://www.creators.com/comics/speed-bump.html

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I received this email and thought the writer has an interesting view of Coulrophobia.

"I read with great interest the information on your website as a link to a physiological psychology textbook by Carlson. I have a theory about the reason for fearing clowns that I thought I would suggest to you. Because clowns have permanent, exaggerated expressions painted on their faces - usually of joy but not always, it renders the observer impotent in measuring facial expression as a precurser of action and for those who are vigilent about their environment, possibly because of past traumatic events, they are unable to interpret and therefore predict what this creature may do to them. This is heightened when we observe the "happy" clown performing some aggressive behavior - it becomes too much to take - creating intense confusion and fear. I don't know if this is the reason - simply my first thoughts on a very intriguing subject. It would be interesting if there were any confirmation."

Kathryn Cillick

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I found this quote in an interview with Anton Adassinski by Ismene Brown regarding clowns. Adassinski is the founder of the cult Russian clown company, Derevo.

Brown: "What qualities make a good clown? Come to that, what is a clown?"

Adassinski: "Some people say you can't learn to be a clown, you have to be born one. I don't believe that. I was born a normal man, I just learned it from Slava, and proved it for myself. If you work very hard in any direction, you have a result.
But what is a clown? It's not my words, but I will say what they say in Russia. There is one string between universal chaos and our planet, a string that is laughter. When you laugh, you connect yourself again with chaos. Which is why when we find something funny the body suddenly moves in this uncontrollable way. The clown is the person who can pull the string and turn the universe upside down and show people there is another way to live, another magic reality."

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One of the most submitted phobia names is Aibohphobia, the fear of Palindromes. As clever as it is, I have yet to add it to the list since I haven't been able to find it in a reference book. Also, I can't figure that anyone would acutally be so afraid of a palindrome that they would break into a sweat. That's not to say that it hasn't happened, but until I see someone cringing at the sight of one or I find a reference to it, it's off the list.

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The latest craze seems to be wanting to find the name for the fear of elevators. No, it's not on the list. I don't know where this started but it seems that nearly one third of my email is in the pursuit of this elusive phobia name. Of all the names, the two best I've heard are 'Otisophobia' and, of course, 'Elevatorophobia.' I don't know how this will end or if there's even someone out there that has the name (and a good reference for it!) but something will have to give.

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What is the thing with midgets and dwarfs?
I keep getting the request for this fear over and over. I don't have the name for this phobia so I have added it to the most wanted list.

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I finally broke down and nabbed the domain name for the Phobia List. Moving the site is a job that I've been dreading but it's time to do it. If you run across a link to it at it's old site, would you please inform the webmaster at the linking site? The new address is: http://phobialist.com
Thanks...Fredd

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Yes, a phobia can exist and not be on the list. And also...yes, I have phobias...the first one to come to mind is stage fright or public speaking or performing in front of others.

The fine line between fear and hatred is often encountered in dealing with these names. Homophobes usually aren't as afraid of homosexuals as that they hate them and xenophobes often hate and fear foreigners so, one could use hatred with the names also.
Perhaps it's easier for some people to admit that they hate something rather than they're afraid of it?

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I receive a lot of email concerning the legitimacy of Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. This is my most recent reply:
...hippo is Greek for horse....as in hippopotamus which is 'river horse.' If someone calls a person a hippo, it usually means they are big. Monstro comes from monstrous, Latin for monstrosity - again big. And sesquipedalian means given to using long words...comes from latin meaning measuring a foot and a half - also big. You can find hippopotomonstrosesquidedalian in The Word Lover's Dictionary by Josefa Heifetz, ISBN 0-8065-1720-4. ( one of my favorite books )
I found hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia in a medical paper.
This word was coined incorrectly using Greek and Latin but it's a real word none the less, much like many words we use daily in our American English language. Television is another - tele, Greek for far and vision, Latin for seeing.

This leads me to thinking of the two approaches to writing a dictionary. One can say, "This is what this word means," or one can say, "This is what people mean when they use this word." These are two entirely different ideas and it creates a problem for anyone attempting to define anything.

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