Spring Fever, Cabin Fever

You made it through the month of March without being as “mad as a March hare” but there there is April, May and most of June to survive before summer, so spring fever is still a possibility.

“Spring Fever” is an interesting term for a phenomenon or perhaps a pseudo-illness. The term seems to have entered English in the mid-1800s. Linguistically, it is interesting because it has two meanings which are opposites. There is the term contronym to describe words that are also antonyms. Examples include words such as cleave which can mean “to cling” or “to split”, and the verb “to dust” which can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add dust (dust a cake with powdered sugar).

Similarly, “spring fever” means a sluggishness, apathy or inertia at this time after winter OR a renewed energy and freedom at the opportunity to get outside and be active again. 

The negative feeling is related to the dormancy, like a hibernating animal, that occurs for many of us in colder climates during winter. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, we are slow to get moving.

The more positive meaning applied to this seasonal change is experiencing new-found energy after being confined mostly indoors for a few months. Time to start that spring cleaning, get back to exercising, start working on outdoor projects, and get into the Sun.

It’s not a real disease or fever, but historians think the American colonists coined the term to refer to the weakness, fatigue, and irritability many felt after a long winter without fresh fruits or vegetables. These symptoms could be quite real but were probably signs of the very real disease scurvy which also plagued sailor on long voyages. Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C. Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs and without treatment, causes decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding from the skin.

“Cabin fever” is phrase we started using in the early 1900s for a kind of claustrophobic reaction we have to be “trapped” inside with less to keep us busy and no access to nature for an extended period. I love cabins, so the thought of being in one seems quite pleasant to me, but that might change if I was snowed in for a month. You could get cabin fever in an isolated cabin in the woods, but it can happen in a home in the suburbs or a city apartment too. Ever notice how crowded your local park is on those first really warm and sunny spring days?

In German, they have the difficult-to-pronounce term frühjahrsmüdigkeit which is literally translated as “spring tiredness”, so this is not a purely American phenomenon. The German version is on the negative side. It means a temporary mood characterized by low energy levels.

Is there any science to all this? Though the diagnosis of “spring fever” or “cabin fever” probably doesn’t appear in any manual with a code for your insurance coverage, there are things that can cause all the symptoms. The cause most often noted is hormone imbalance.  One hormone that increases our happiness is serotonin, whose production depends on daylight, so the level may be lowered over the winter. Serotonin is the basis for many anti-depressant medications. The lowered serotonin might also allow melatonin, a hormone related to sleep,  to have its way with us. The longer days of spring and summer allow more endorphin, testosterone, and estrogen to be released.  It has also been suggested that this seasonal readjustment of hormones stresses our bodies and we react with a feeling of tiredness.

The cure or prevention is getting outside, being active, and getting some sunlight (a half hour is enough to help). Avoid taking any melatonin tablets for a while.  Eat less food and, as those hormones adjust, increase vitamins and proteins. Look at the cures for seasonal affective disorder and get happy.

Words That Are Their Own Opposites

In Roman mythology, Janus presided over the beginning and
 ending of conflict, including war and peace.

Most people learned in school that an antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. Children learn about opposites at a young age: up/down, in/out, hot cold. Contronyms are somewhat related but quite different.

An example of these words that are their own antonyms is "oversight."  What does this sentence mean?  "The supervisor's oversight led to the procedure's approval." Does it mean that the supervisor was inattentive and so allowed something to be approved that shouldn't have been approved? Or, does it mean that because he was overseeing a procedure properly it was approved?

That's a contronym. You may also see them referred to as an auto-antonym or autantonym, or Janus word - a word with multiple meanings of which one is the reverse of another.

I heard on the news recently that some members of Congress might be sanctioned, meaning a penalty will be imposed upon them. But a sanction can also mean "to give official permission or approval" which is quite different in meaning.

A few others:

Cleave can mean "to cling to or adhere," and also "to split or sever."

Fast can mean "moving rapidly," as in running fast, or "fixed, unmoving," as in holding fast. 

You can weather a hurricane (to withstand or come safely through) but a seaside home can look weathered because it has been worn away by the elements, because weather is a contronym.

Here are some more examples 

  

Contronyms

You can seed a field by putting seeds into the soil, but you can also seed a watermelon by taking seeds out of it.  "Fast" can mean "moving quickly" (as in "running fast") or it can mean "not moving" (as in "stuck fast"). How can that be?

Words that have one meaning but also have an opposite meaning are known as contronyms.

What I would consider to be true contronyms are also homographs - distinct words with different etymology which happen to have the same form. One word like that is cleave. It means "to separate" which comes from Old English clēofan. That is where we get the noun cleaver, a tool with a heavy broad blade used by butchers for chopping meat.  But cleave also means the opposite, "to adhere"which is also from Old English clifian.

You might also see the terms "autantonym" used for these types of words. That term was coined by Joseph T. Shipley in 1960, but in 1962 Jack Herring labeled them contronyms and that word is most frequently used.

Other examples:
sanction  can mean to permit and also to penalize
bolt (which originally came from crossbows) means to leave quickly and also fixed. It can mean "moving rapidly" or "unmoving."
buckle can mean "fasten securely" as in "buckle your seat belt", or it can mean "fall apart" as in "buckle under pressure."

Some contronyms are because of national varieties of English. "To table a bill" in the U.K. and Canada means "to put it up for debate."  But in American English it means the opposite, "to remove it from debate." The more logical British version comes from placing an actual bill on the table of Parliamentarians to be considered and debated.

Some contronyms have fallen out of usage. At one time, "awful" meant full of awe or awe-inspiring, but now it only means terrible.

An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral as "awful, pompous, and artificial", meaning in modern English "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."

Contronyms are not unique to English. For example, in French, hôte may mean either "host" or "guest."  

In Hawaiian, aloha  (which essentially means "love") is translated both as “hello” and "goodbye” depending on the context.

Contronyms

I first came across the term contronym when I was teaching middle school English. They are words that are their own antonyms. In other words, they mean something and they mean the opposite. That can be confusing.

Take this sentence:  "The company's oversight had become a costly issue."  Did the company overlook a problem or was it that their conscientious overseeing of something was costing someone problems?

Usually, we can tell which meaning from the context.  "The carcass was cleaved" uses it to mean "to plit or sever" (as with a cleaver).  "He cleaves to his beliefs" means not a split but that he clings or adheres to them. Both meanings come from Old English, but from different, though similar words.  Cleave as to adhere comes from clifian. Cleave as in to split comes from clēofan. That word takes forms that apply to that meaning still, like "cloven," as in a type of split hoof and "cleft" as in cleft palate.

Some other contronyms:

Sanction = to give official permission or approval OR to impose a penalty on.

Left = remaining (What's left to eat?) OR departed (Everyone left the room.)

Dust = the noun is that annoying coating on furniture, but the verb is to remove that coating. Similarly, we use "seed." Seeding the lawn adds seeds but seeding a pepper is removing them.

Trim as a verb can mean adding or taking away. If you trim the Christmas tree, you add decorations. But if you trim a tree in the backyard, you are more likely to be cutting away at it.

Fast can mean "moving rapidly" (driving fast) or "fixed, unmoving" (holding fast or colors that are fast and so will not run).

Screen can mean ‘to show’ (a movie) or ‘to hide’ (an unsightly view).

Clip can mean "to bind together" (clip some papers) or "to separate" (as in clippers or clipping coupons from a newspaper).