berøringsangst

From berøring (“touch, touching”) +‎ -s- +‎ angst (“anxiety, anxious”). Compare German Berührungsangst and Dutch beroeringsangst.

• IPA^(key):

berøringsangst

1. avoidant, reluctant to occupy oneself with or deal with some contentious, complicated or otherwise difficult issue
   • 2015, Jørgen Christensen (quoting Poul Nyrup Rasmussen), Muhammed-tegningerne, demokratiet og sikkerhedspolitikken, BoD – Books on Demand →ISBN, page 85

     Vi har nok i en periode været berøringsangste i forhold til disse spørgsmål af angst for ikke at være tolerante nok.

     We have probably through a period been squeamish with respect to these questions out of fear of not being tolerant enough.

   • 2014, Ahmed Akkari (dictated to Martin Kjær Jensen), Min afsked med islamismen: Muhammedkrisen, dobbeltspillet og kampen mod Danmark, Art People →ISBN

     Kontrollen med, at disse regler blev overholdt, bliver imidlertid varetaget af et lille hold kommunale eller ministerielle konsulenter, som jeg oplevede som både blåøjede og berøringsangste.

     The task of making sure these rules were kept, however, was seen to by a small team of municipal or ministerial consultants whom I experienced as being both naive and squeamish.

   • 2004, Michael Larsen, Den store tid: Aftenlandet, Stormen, Art People, →ISBN:

     Selv om han nu igen var blevet et samtaleemne med De Udvalgte, var det Edmunds indtryk, at folk var for pæne og berøringsangste til at mene andet, end at den unge mand var gået for vidt.

     Although he had now once again become a topic conversation among The Chosen Ones, it was Edmund's impression that people were too polite and squeamish to think anything else than that the young man had gone too far.

berøringsangst c (singular definite berøringsangsten, not used in plural form)

1. reluctance to occupy oneself with or deal with something