| Well, the word might be made up, but the condition is real and gets out of control sometimes. Like the apocryphal story of people trying to boycott foods with three sixes in the bar code. Or a friend of mine whose family once threw out a Ouija board, partly because they believed such things are sinister, but mainly because the manufacturer's street address was 666.
But the best story of all, and 100% true: A California Assemblyman tried to have bill #666 renumbered. The guy's name was Brian Setencich, from Fresno. He'd been a basketball star at Fresno State and was elected to the city council in one of those "kick the bums out" political upheavals. He was popular, and he was elected to the State Assembly shortly afterward.
He was also deeply religious, as is much of Fresno's population. And so it came to pass that in 1995, Setencich made a formal proposal to change AB 666 to a more palatable number. "The Bible tells us it is the mark of the devil," is what he told the Assembly. His request was turned down.
Btw, the bill had something to do with licensing of Dungeness crab fishermen. Ironically, Setencich was in favor of it.
Source: Sacramento Bee
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