Perchance to seethe. Dear Word Detective: Can you please explain
the origin of “fever pitch?” Is the musical notion of pitch
somehow generalized to mean a rate of speed or intensity? Are
you supposed to get a fever when you reach this rate? I’ve
looked in your archives and in World Wide Words, and I’ve tried
The Google, but I haven’t found any answers. I’m afraid I’m
going to break out in a cold sweat. — Don Creach. That’s a good
question. “Fever pitch” is certainly a staple of modern news
writing. At the moment, Google News offers 685 links to stories
employing the phrase to describe everything from excitement over
a new sports league in India (“Investing at fever pitch in
India’s cricket bonanza”) to gossip over a celebrity break-up
(“The buzz over Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian’s split has
reached fever pitch…”). There are also, predictably, several
dozen headlines employing the phrase in connection with the
health care reform bill recently passed here in the US (“Health
Care Drama Reaches Fever Pitch” bei