"orange fever" [noun] [de oranjekoorts, <no plural>] [‘o-ran-ju-koorts’]

What on earth is "orange fever"? Well, I’m having serious orange fever at this moment, and it all has to do with the European championship football/soccer 🙂 "Oranjekoorts" can occur when the Dutch get excited about any Dutch representative competing in any international sports event when the probability of victory increases, but usually it’s the national football/soccer team at a European or world championship.

People with "oranjekoorts" suffer from increased body heat and adrenaline due to a sudden outburst of unusual patriotism and national solidarity. Usually there is a bit of "oranjekoorts" leading up to the sports event and it will abate when we (there is always suddenly talk of "we") do badly, but it will increase significantly when we do well. Many Dutch people have "oranjekoorts" right now as a result of the unexpected victory against Italy last Monday. This is a bit premature of course 🙂

"Oranjekoorts" can turn into "oranjegekte": orange madness. This is the word for the behaviour and appearance of Dutch supporters, ranging from decorating your street with orange and national flags, to dressing up as an orange lion. It is expected that 50,000 Dutch fans will populate the city centre of Bern when the Dutch play against the French this Friday: there will be "oranjegekte"!

As it is quite unlikely that you will use "oranjekoorts" on a daily basis, I’ll also include examples with "koorts" and "oranje".

Examples:
– "Zelfs Sabina heeft oranjekoorts, en zij houdt niet eens van voetbal!"
("Even Sabina has "oranjekoorts" and she doesn’t even like football/soccer!")

– "Tijdens de aanloop naar het EK, neemt de oranjekoorts toe."
("During the build-up to the European Championship, the "oranjekoorts" increases." The abbreviation "EK" (pronounce "ee-kaa")is commonly used ("Europees Kampioenschap").)

– <The morning after the match of Holland against Italy:> "Ik bel om door te geven dat mijn man niet kan werken vandaag, hij ligt met koorts in bed…" – "Met koorts zegt u? Ja ja, u bedoelt zeker oranjekoorts!"
("I’m calling to report that my husband cannot come to work today, he is in bed with a fever…" – "With a fever you say? Yeah right, you must mean orange fever!" Note that "doorgeven" translates to "to report" or "to notify" in this case.)

– "Leuke kleur heeft die jurk van jou, een beetje oranjeachtig is het niet?"
("Your dress has a nice colour, a bit orange-like isn’t it?" Lit.: "Nice colour has that dress of yours…")

– "Ik voel me niet zo lekker, volgens mij heb ik koorts!"
("I feel a bit under the weather, I think I have a fever!" Here "niet lekker" can also mean "nauseous" or "sick". "Volgens mij" is a common substitute for "ik denk dat".)

Related words:
– "Oranje": orange.
– "Oranjegekte": "orange madness".
– "Koorts hebben": to have a fever.
– "Koortsachtig": feverish, frenetic.
– "Ziek": ill, sick.