Athazagoraphobia

10.03.2010 - EB

Hardly anyone cares whether Roman Janoušek, Pavel Bém or other members of the Prague ODS clique are homosexual or bisexual, unless it helps explain how city business works. Nor do many people (other than Blesk) care if Transport Minister Gustav Slamečka lives with Cabinet Director Jan Novák, unless it has implications for government or commercial policy. Few people care if CEO Petr Žaluda of Czech Railways attends events with CEO Martin Roman of ČEZ, unless there's a connection to all the no-bid contracts won by Škoda Plzeň. Is labor leader Jaromír Dušek a homophobe or xenophobe for pointing out these relationships? Or is he instead a kleptophobe who has had enough? Most likely he's just an athazagoraphobe - someone who fears being overlooked or forgotten - because all the "homosexuals" in the transport cartel have cut him out of his own little side business at Czech Railways.

Glossary of difficult words

athazagoraphobia - (rare) fear of being overlooked or forgotten; 

clique - a small group of people with shared interests or other features in common who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them; 

Blesk - the tabloid has run several articles about the implications to government policy and national security of the relationship between Slamečka and Novák; 

Škoda Plzeň - now Škoda Investments; a major supplier to both Czech Railways and ČEZ; 

kleptophobe - someone who has an abnormal fear of thieves or being robbed; 

to cut someone out of something - to exclude someone from something; 

side business - supplementary activity not directly related to one's main employment (and often illicit).



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