It is enough to give someone an irrational fear of long and faintly improbable-sounding words.
A catalogue of unusual phobias reveals that the fear of long words is known as
hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
The condition, sometimes shortened to
sesquippedaliophobia, can leave sufferers with shortness of breath, rapid breathing, an irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread.
Among the bizarre crippling dreads listed on
changethatsrightnow.com are the ridiculous sounding
zemmiphobia, or fear of the great mole rat, and
alektorophobia, or a fear of chickens.
Those with
lutraphobia fear otters, those with
globophobia fear balloons and those with
pteronophobia fear of being tickled by feathers.