Somewhere in the World, There is a Duck Watching You

Human phobias are wonderfully curious.  A phobic disorder, manifesting in irrational, intense and persistent fear, can be disabling and completely not funny. But the objects of these irrational fears are so random, so numerous, and sometimes so bizarre, it’s hard to keep a straight face. Examples of actual, known phobias that qualify:

anthophobia                fear of flowers

chorophobia                fear of dancing

koumpounophobia     fear of buttons 

lachanophobia             fear of vegetables

xanthophobia               fear of the color yellow

 octophobia                   fear of the number 8

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia     fear of long words

Honorable mention for completely batshit: 

barophobia                     fear of gravity

 

Irrational but not unreasonable:

Deipnophobia-                fear of dining with others or of dinner conversations

cyberphobia                    fear of computers      

albuminurophobia        fear of kidney disease

              

papaphobia                      fear of the Pope

So, Gary Larson's The Far Side taking creative license:

• Anatidaephobia is the fear that somewhere in the world, there is a duck watching you. 

• Luposlipaphobia - is the fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor.

One size fits all:

phobophobia                fear of phobias