Green’s Dictionary of Slang

used humorously to create imagined ‘diseases’, e.g. Zeppelinitis, a fear of aerial bombardment during WWI; danceitis, an obsession with dancing; workitis, a pathological dislike of work.

1903		Eve. World (NY) 10 Feb. 11/2: Is there any way pokeritis can be cured?
1903		Asquith in Westminster Gazette 19 Oct. 5/1: All the people were suffering from a new disease – the disease of fiscalitis .
1917		Rising Sun 8 Feb. 1/1: For that incurable disease / A sup’rabundance of V.C.’s; / For nervous breakdown, shrapnelitis, / Toothache, acute malingeritis [...] Are cured by that all-searching PILL.
1925		S. Lewis Arrowsmith 54: She’ll have you all dolled up [...] diagnosing everything as rich-widowitis.
1927		(con. 1918) J.J. Niles Singing Soldiers 36: You’s yellow. You got S-O-S-itis, I know.
1936		A. Russell Gone Nomad 10: Gone bughouse with whiskyitis.
1938		H. Drake-Brockman Men Without Wives I i: What you’ll die of, Fred, me boy, won’t be fever, it’ll be quinine-itis!
1941		H. Drake-Brockman ‘The Price’ in Mann Coast to Coast 47: Your trouble, missus [...] your trouble is imaginitis!
1947		H. Brush 18 Feb. diary in Garfield Our Hidden Lives (2004) 355: He has been laid up with some kind of ‘itis’.
1950		‘Neville Shute’ Town Like Alice 166: Stuart Hopkinson said cynically, ‘It’s got outbackitis’.
1953		A. Buckeridge Jennings’ Diary 12: I’d say you were suffering from a pretty chronic attack of beginning-of-term-itis.
1956		F.O. Beck Hobohemia 25: He is suffering from a disease, ‘won’t-work-itis’.
1959		L. Hansberry Raisin in the Sun I ii: We’ve all got acute ghetto-itus.
1964		G. Gordon Four People 184: Slowly he repeated ‘Suffering from pass-itis.’ Then suddenly he broke into a mocking laugh.
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 109: ‘Schoolitis,’ Cooly drawled. ‘I think I got me a bad case a that too.’ [...] ‘Schoolitis an’ homeitis,’ Spade said.
1986		P. Slabolepszy ‘Boo to the Moon’ in Mooi Street (1994) 127: All you hear are lawn-mowers [...] It’s like a disease. Every weekend the whole neighbourhood gets lawn-moweritis.
2000		Guardian G2 4 May 17: He suffered from what he called ‘Big Shot-itis’.