DID YOU JUST LEARN THE WORD ‘XENOPHOBIA’?

Pronunciation = /ˌzen.əˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

The recent happenings in South Africa has taken center stage for the past few weeks, trending on different social media platforms and steering a lot of reactions. However, the question is, do we truly know what this word means? Has the term 'xenophobia' been loosely used in the situation in South Africa, or is it a euphemism for the atrocities being committed in a country laden with so much history in the African continent? Let’s take a closer look at the word, vis-a-vis the actual occurrences in SA.

Xenophobia, according to the Encarta Dictionary means “fear of foreigners: an intense dislike of foreign people, their customs and culture, or foreign things”, and The English Dictionary describes it as “a strong antipathy or aversion to strangers or foreigners”. This acute disdain and fear of things and persons is an offshoot of Cultural Revolution, which a group of people may adopt for reasons best known to them. They could either feel marginalized, or may be suffering from some sort of inferiority complex.

On the other hand, The English Dictionary refers to the word 'genocide' as “the systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, social status, or other particularities”. Now, can the number of persons killed in South Africa be said to be substantial? In as much as about five persons have since lost their lives, every human life is valuable, and thus, substantial.  Therefore, the incidences in South Africa are more or less genocidal than xenophobic. They have transcended the xenophobic phase, and have become outright genocide.   

XENOPHOBIC LINES & QUOTATIONS

Ø  Men of England! You wish to kill me because I am a Frenchman. Am I not punished enough in not being born an Englishman?

     Attributed to Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

     French writer and philosopher

Ø  I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.

      Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845)

      British clergyman, essayist, and wit

Ø  The Master said, 'Barbarian tribes with their rulers are inferior to Chinese states without them.

       Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

       Chinese philosopher, administrator, and moralist

Ø  I hate the French because they are all slaves, and wear wooden shoes.

        Oliver Goldsmith (1730 - 1774)

        Irish-born British novelist, playwright, and poet

Ø  I do not dislike the French from the vulgar antipathy between neighbouring nations, but for their insolent and unfounded airs of superiority.

         Horace Walpole (1717 - 1797)

         British writer

    Ø  Come in, you Anglo-Saxon swine
    And drink of my Algerian wine.
'   Twill turn your eyeballs black and blue,
    And damn well good enough for you.

          Brendan Behan (1923 - 1964)

           Irish playwright and author

    Ø  I believe the US is a truly monstrous force in the world, now off the leash for obvious reasons.

           Harold Pinter (1930 - )

           British playwright, theater director, and screenwriter

    Ø  To like an individual because he's black is just as insulting as to dislike him because he isn't white.

            Attributed to E. E. Cummings (1894 - 1962)

            U.S. poet and painter

Here’s a table of other phobias:

PHOBIA	FEARED OBJECT OR SITUATION
Acrophobia	Heights
Aerophobia	Flying
Agoraphobia	Open spaces, public places
Aichmophobia	Sharp pointed objects
Ailurophobia	Cats
Amaxophobia	Vehicles, driving
Anthropophobia	People
Aquaphobia	Water
Arachnephobia	Spiders
Astraphobia	Lightning
Batrachophobia	Frogs, amphibians
Blennophobia	Slime
Brontophobia	Thunder
Carcinophobia	Cancer
Claustrophobia	Closed spaces, confinement
Clinophobia	Going to bed
Cynophobia	Dogs
Dementophobia	Insanity
Dromophobia	Crossing streets
Emetophobia	Vomiting
Entomophobia	Insects
Genophobia	Sex
Gephyrophobia	Crossing bridges
Hematophobia	Blood
Herpetophobia	Reptiles
Homilophobia	Sermons
Linonophobia	String
Monophobia	Being alone
Musophobia	Mice
Mysophobia	Dirt and germs
Nudophobia	Nudity
Numerophobia	Numbers
Nyctophobia	Darkness, night
Ochlophobia	Crowds
Ophidiophobia	Snakes
Ornithophobia	Birds
Phasmophobia	Ghosts
Phobophobia	Phobias
Pnigophobia	Choking
Pogonophobia	Beards
Pyrophobia	Fire
Siderodromophobia	Trains
Taphephobia	Being buried alive
Thanatophobia	Death
Trichophobia	Hair
Triskaidekaphobia	The number 13
Trypanophobia	Injections
Xenophobia	Strangers
Zoophobia	Animals

Culled from Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.