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There have been major historic figures who lived with very strange phobias. You’d think that unwarranted fears might have gotten in their way, but perhaps they just spurred these people on. George Washington battled with taphephobia, a fear of being buried alive. Alexander the Great suffered from ailurophobia, a fear of cats (had the Persians only known). I myself struggle mightily with late onset jargonophobia, an unmitigated fear of the deterioration of language.
I suspect I had been carrying the germ of this condition for decades but it only rose to the level of consciousness four or five years ago when a sales manager I answered to discovered the term "at the end of the day". It became his clarion call, punctuating and re-punctuating every sales meeting until I could no longer hear the phrase, or even watch him coiling to unleash it, without emitting a small shriek. I changed professions, but there is no relief from the paralyzing grasp of jargonophobia.
The phrases now grow shorter and I find myself quickly escalating into full Munchian mode as I dodge the linguistic grenades of "bucket lists" and "man caves". Not to mention "wow factors". I am quite certain I would not survive all three of these in the same sentence (note my caution here).
I do cling to the vague thought that suffering from a strange phobia may yet signify fame in my future. But Washington and Alexander were high energy individuals, while all I really want, at the end of the day, is to brush my teeth and get to bed.
