Onomatophobia

Onomatophobia (from Greek onomato meaning "word" or "name") is the fear of certain words or names, a branch of legophobia. This fear is usually caused by a traumatic experience that has been associated with that particular word. For instance, something as trivial as the word ‘cooking’ can trigger an anxiety reaction in a person who fears cooking, or one who fears fire because they might have gotten burned in the past. Other people who fear words are those who do not know how to read and they find it scary to even open a book or glance at a newspaper.

They would prefer watching TV shows that do not flash words or may prefer to listen to the radio but hearing certain words can also trigger the phobia.

Treatment includes and. These people are taught not to react in a certain way to a particular word.