Full Thread: we need a word...
View Single Post
Old May 5th, 2005 #8
Francis Playfair
W.N.F
 
Francis Playfair's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,063
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by prozak
I like this one. Europhobia.

How about something that suggests fear of natural competition?
The fear of natural competition used to be agoraphobic, from the greek agorā meaning the market place, and phobia meaning fear.

In ancient times an agoraphobic was one that feared the competative world, be it commerce or sports, or any other form of natural competition, however, over time the old defenition became redundant and the defenition, an abnormal fear of open or public places, replaced it.

So there is no natural, ancient word, like there is with Europhobia, meaning a fear of Europe, or Europeans.

I think if we tried to reappropriate agoraphobia we would be fighting an uphill struggle, as people to readily identify it with it's more modern meaning.