ochlophobia

Pronounced: ahk-luh-FOE-bee-uh, noun

Notes: My guess was fear of the number eight (that’s not right)

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Yesterday’s word

The word sastruga means “a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind — usually used in the plural (sastrugi).

Background

This word came into English from German, but it is not of German origin. The word comes from zastruga (groove, small ridge, furrow); it comes from a dialect of Russian. It is an unusual word, and it’s even more rare to be able to use it in the Dallas area of Texas. If it snow, it usually melts the next day. But in mid February 2021, a severe cold snap kept snow on the ground for days, and the wind sculpted sastrugi.

First usage

This word began to be used in English in the mid-1800s