Why Do We Say “Spring Fever”?
Maybe you’ve had the itchy eyes and runny nose of seasonal allergies lately, but warmer weather also brings on the lifted spirits commonly known as “spring fever.” This idiomatic sensation is usually associated with feelings of excitement and perhaps restlessness after being cooped up in the winter months. But in
the earliest days of this expression, it was more likely to be used to describe an actual ailment, one later identified as scurvy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “spring fever” came about by the late 17th century, but in those days, “spring fever” or “spring disease” was...
