Fear of what??

This was a quiz on MSN about the proper names of what people fear.
Do you know the proper words for these fears?

Scroll down to the bottom for the correct answers.

1. A person who suffers from dendrophobia has a persistent,
abnormal, and irrational fear of what?

a) Trees
b) Dentists or dental work
c) Nerve damage or nerve pain



2. Aviophobia is also known as which of the following?

a) Fear of birds
b) Fear of flying
c) Fear of lizards or other reptiles



3. Brontophobia, one of the more common phobias, describes an obsessive fear of what?

a) Dinosaurs or dinosaur bones
b) Suffocation or lung malfunction
c) Thunder and lightning



4. A xenophobe possesses an overpowering fear of what?

a) Foreigners
b) Things that glow in the dark
c) Things that are yellow



5. An arachibutyrophobic is obsessively terrified of what?

a) Spiders, scorpions, or mites
b) Peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
c) Animal fats



6. Which of the following describes a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of snakes?

a) Serpentophobia
b) Ophidiophobia
c) Squamatophobia



7. One of the most common phobias is agoraphobia, an irrational fear of what?

a) Money or coins
b) Public or open spaces
c) Heights



8. People with triskaidekaphobia are terrified of anything to do with which of the following?

a) The number 13
b) Crackers or unleavened bread
c) Triplets



9. A person who is terrified of crossing a bridge is afflicted
with which of the following?

a) Gephyrophobia
b) Botanophobia
c) Ichthyophobia



10. Sesquipedalophobics are horrified of which of the following?

a) Food dishes containing cod fish
b) 150th anniversaries
c) Long words


Scroll down for the answers:















ANSWERS:

1. The correct answer: A Trees

A dendrophobe has an intense and overpowering fear of trees.
The prefix dendro "tree or treelike" originates with the Greek
dendron "to be solid." This one is a toughie because dendrite,
a treelike component of all nerve cells, shares the same prefix.
And fear of dentists or dental work, technically known as
dentophobia, is one of the most common phobias reported.


2. The correct answer: B Fear of flying

Also called aerophobia, aviophobia describes an irrational fear
of flying. Many aviophobics learn to control their fear with a
behavior therapy known as systematic desensitization, which
teaches them to relax in a situation that would normally produce anxiety. For the record, fear of birds is technically termed ornithophobia; fear of reptiles is herpetophobia.


3. The correct answer: C Thunder and lightning

Brontophobes have an irrational fear of thunder and lightning.
If you guessed dinosaurs or dinosaur bones, worry not--you
weren't too far off. The prefix bronto, from the Greek bronté
"thunder," also appears in one of the most recognizable dinosaur names, brontosaurus.


4. The correct answer: A Foreigners

From the Greek xenos "stranger, foreigner," xenophobia describes an irrational fear of foreign people and cultures. A xenophile, on the other hand, adores foreign people, their customs, and their culture. And just to be fair, the word xenon, which describes a gas used in glow-in-the-dark neon signs, shares the same Greek origin.


5. The correct answer: B Peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

What can we say? Phobias are by nature irrational. The name of this one is quite rational, however. The botanists and nut buffs among us will likely recognize the prefix arachi, which also appears in the scientific name for peanut, Arachis hypogaea.


6. The correct answer: B Ophidiophobia

Truth? We have some trouble regarding any fear of snakes as
irrational. Nonetheless, the professionals think there's such a
thing, and they call it ophidiophobia, from the Greek stem ophid "snake."


7. The correct answer: B Public or open spaces

Agoraphobia is characterized by an intense and irrational fear
of being in places or situations from which escape might be
difficult. The name is derived from the word agora, a public
square or marketplace considered an integral component of any ancient Greek city.


8. The correct answer: A The number 13

Blame this one on the Greeks, too. Coined from the Greek word triskaideka "thirteen," triskaidekaphobia describes an
irrational fear of the number 13. Not all fear of the number 13
is considered phobia; however, in some cases, it's just
superstition.


9. The correct answer: A Gephyrophobia

A person with gephyrophobia, sometimes called gephydrophobia, has an overpowering fear of crossing bridges. In many cases, the fear extends beyond bridges to other human-made structures, such as tall buildings.


10. The correct answer: C Long words

Whew! If you've made it this far in the phobias quiz, we can say with some assurance that you do not suffer from sesquipedalophobia.