Trypophobia
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[edit] Trypophobia
The phobia of holes. Specifically, naturally occurring holes whether in clusters or not.
...here are specific types of naturally occurring holes which are gross in the extreme to anyone who suffers from this phobia. Due to the nature of the phobia and the nature of the holes which occur in different types of tissues, human and animal, this is quite a big category. In types of meat holes are found and I think these are to allow veins through. There are lots of completely disgusting holes found in various types of offal. I believe that sweetbreads are particularly good for finding holes in (if you fancy this). Human pores on their skin, if enlarged, blackheads, pockmarks left by acne or other skin disorders. Holes in skin caused by creatures that may have eaten through the skin creating a hole. The most gross thing I've seen recently is the holes left on my skin by recently succumbing to that most childhood of illnesses, chickenpox!... ...Cheese that has holes may seem the most obvious, but I understand that this doesn't affect everyone. However, blue cheeses have the mold injected into them. The holes created by the mold working its way through the cheese are revolting... ...Those dried seed pods you get in pot pourri... ...Holes that are either naturally occurring in rocks or are created by the flow of water... ...Corals that contains holes. Natural sea sponges... ...Holes created in ice and snow as it melts.
Naming the phobia... Following my letter to the Oxford Word and Language Service on 12th May 2005, I have received a reply from Miss Margot Charlton of Ask Oxford - Oxford English Dictionary. Due to the content of this letter, thank you Miss Charlton for your reply, the name of this phobia is now trypophobia instead of my previously suggested trypaphobia. I quote from Miss Charton's letter below. "I should perhaps point out that the -a of trypa represents the ending of a Greek feminine noun, and would normally be replaced by -o- in a combination ('trypophobia')." This was of great interest to me and I am glad that my useage of the Greek was corrected, as my knowledge of Greek is very limited, being almost non-existent. I am now happy that trypophobia is a correctly constructed word. On the issue of trypophobia being a word accepted into the dictionary, Miss Charlton makes the following comments: "...there is nothing to prevent anyone inventing and using a new word, but we do not start considering a dictionary entry until we have evidence that it has been in sustained and widespread use for quite some time." In other words, there is nothing preventing us calling our phobia anything we want! And this is why I have taken it upon myself to officially name this phobia: TRYPOPHOBIA Louise 23 May 2005 Ireland Thanks to the following web pages for their resourses: http://www.kypros.org/cgi-bin/lexicon http://www.askoxford.com
