batrachophobia: A dread or aversion to frogs (and of toads and newts) and possibly to what is often perceived as "slimy things". A related fear includes toads which have been considered as a repulsive, warty creature that erroneously caused warts if they were touched.
A princess who fell in a well,
Met a frog-prince who thought she was swell.
When he asked for a kiss
She said, "Frog nemesis,
I'm your batrachophobia belle."
-Helena Croke,
from There's a Word for It
by Charles H. Elster
bats: See vespertiliophobia
bdellophobia: An abnormal anxiety or extreme fear of leeches; especially, when they are on one's body.
beards: See pogonophobia
beatings: See mastigophobia, rhabdophobia
Beatlemania: A frenzied desire for anything related to the British musical group "The Beatles".
beautiful women: See caligynephobia, venustaphobia
beauty: See callomania, callophobia
bed: See clinophobia
bees: See apimania, apiophobia, apiphobia, melissophobia
One aspect that distinguishes honey bees from the other hypenopterans (veil wings) is that the attachment of their sting is designed to tear and separate from the abdomen when they are stinging vertebrate tissue.
The adaptation for the separation of bee stingers accomplishes known results:
- First, the detached stinger continues to move and embed itself deeper into the flesh.
- Second, venom continues to be pumped into the wound, reaching more sensitive tissues.
- Third, the stinger apparently produces communicative chemicals called alarm pheromones. Alarm pheromones evaporate from the surface of the sting, alert other bees, and attract them to the proven vulnerable areas.
- When honey bees sting other insects, the sting remains intact.
- The most recent advice to victims of bee stings is to remove the stinger as rapidly as possible, without regard to the method used (scraped or pinched off).
behavior: See orthophobia
belonephobia, belonophobia: An exaggerated fear of pins and needles or of anything sharp.
bibliokleptomania: An uncontrollable or compulsive desire to steal and to possess books.
A "private collector" acquires additional books for his personal library.
bibliokleptophobia: A fear that someone will steal books from a private collection or a special concern of librarians; especially, those who have rare and precious books.
bibliomania: An intense abnormal desire to collect and possess books, especially rare and curious ones.
bibliophobia: 1. A morbid dread or hatred of books. 2. An excessive fear of books either because of the embarrassment of people's illiteracy or because they think books can be too influential. Adult illiterates fear situations which will reveal that they can't hold down a job or perform other daily tasks which involve reading.
The wise man reads both books and life itself.
-Lin Yutang
Books give not wisdom where none was before,
But where some is, there reading makes it more.
-John Harington
bicycling: See cyclomania, cyclophobia
big words: See hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, hyperpolysyllabi-
comania, hyperpolysyllabicophobia, sesquipedalophobia, verbomania,
verbophobia
birds: See ornithomania, ornithophobia
birth: See natalophobia, maieusiomania, maieusiophobia, parturiphobia, tocomania
black: See melanophobia
