Ever been horrified? Sometimes fear is healthy (we'll cover that topic more later this week). And sometimes it's just downright scary. What does fear feel like?
Every emotion has a physical sensation that corresponds to it. Fear often starts as a tingling queasiness in the stomach. Sheer horror, on the other hand, assaults the entire body: You get weak in the knees, your heart pounds in your ears and drops into your stomach which is already doing flip-flops, and the hairs on your arms and neck stand up on end, prickling your skin. This skin-prickling sensation is known as "goose bumps," or "goose flesh," so called for the similar appearance to a plucked goose's skin.
This "goose pimple" effect is actually called horripilation. From the Latin words horrere and pilus, meaning "horror" and "hair," it specifically pertains to the standing-up-on-end bristling of your body hair when you're cold, irritated or extremely frightened by something. (Think of the first time you ever visited a haunted house!)
The word horripilation (hor - IH - pih - LAY - shun) entered the English language as it was handed down from similar word usages in the languages of Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French.
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