Are you afraid of making decisions? Do you get scared when you see hair or beards? Do you have a fear of balloons? We’re talking about phobias today in this episode.

Voice message from Noemi from Mexico
‘on my own’ or ‘by myself’
It’s so nice to hear something positive about an ‘ex’.
Marmite – Do you love it or do you hate it?

Love or hate?

Pineapple on pizza
Rainy days
crowded concerts
spicy food
TikTok videos
Socks and sandals

Phobias

Phobia comes from the Greek word phobos which means fear or horror.

Definition: A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation.

Phobias can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and breathlessness. In some cases, they can even cause panic attacks.

To be afraid / to have a fear of something / to be frightened by something / to be scared of something

The most common phobias are:

Acrophobia – heights
(Vertigo is a symptom that can result from acrophobia)
Agoraphobia – open/crowded spaces
Claustrophobia – small, confined spaces
Arachnophobia – spiders
Ophidiophobia – snakes
Cynophobia – dogs
Mysophobia – germs
Trypanophobia – injections, needles
Aerophobia – flying (Also known as Pteromerhanophobia which can include a fear of drafts or fresh air)
Social Phobia (Social anxiety disorder)

If you have claustrophobia, you are a claustrophobe (person). If you have homophobia, you are a homophobe.

If you have a fear/dislike of anything connected to England (anglophobia), you are an anglophobe, etc.

If you have claustrophobia, you can be described as claustrophobic (adjective). If you have a fear of dogs, you can be described as cynophobic, etc.

Unusual phobias

Phobophobia – A fear of phobias
Arachibutyrophobia – Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
Nucleomituphobia – fear of nuclear weapons/war
Nomophobia – Fear of being without your mobile phone
(Hippopotomonstro)sesquippedaliophobia – Fear of long words
Ergophobia – Fear of work (Not to be confused with “laziness”!)
Pogonophobia – fear of beards
Hylophobia/ Xylophobia/ Dendrophobia – fear of woods or forests
Hyalophobia/ Nelophobia – fear of glass. Reza has a very mild fear of broken glass and hates glass plates and glass tabletops, etc.

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. Do you have any phobias? If you do, let us know. How do you deal with them? Have you ever overcome a phobia?

Send us a voice message. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast
Send us an email with a comment or question to [email protected] or [email protected]

Visit our online store: https://store.mansioningles.net/

Thank you to all of you who are helping us by supporting this podcast on Patreon. Join our Patreon program for as little as $1.20 per month (including VAT) and you get instant access to recent transcriptions. https://www.patreon.com/inglespodcast

Welcome to our new Patreon supporters who have joined us this month:
Cristina
Jesus Antonio Royo Lopez

In next week’s episode: Fast food

If you enjoyed this podcast, please tell your friends.
The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’