What do batology, battology and batophobia have in common? Well, other than the way they sound, not much, really. Oh, and the fact that they have nothing at all to do with bats, so if you guessed that, go sit in the corner and feel ashamed for a while.Batology is the branch of botany that deals with the study of brambles, including blackberries (the plants, not the smartphones) and raspberries. You might think this is a bit of a waste of time, but there are thousands of species of these aggregrate fruits, so it keeps one busy.
Battology, on the other hand, is a needless repetition of words in speaking and writing. That is to say, battology is a needless repetition of words in speaking and writing. In other words…okay, we’ll stop now.
Finally, batophobia, taking a sharp turn from the other two, is the fear of being close to high buildings, structures and objects, from skyscrapers to mountains. (It’s not to be confused with acrophobia, the fear of heights themselves.)
And just for the record – the study of bats (the type that fly and echolocate, we mean) is chiropterology, and the fear of bats is chiropterophobia.
Enough to drive you batty, isn’t it?
