yuppie flu

American  

noun

1. Informal. chronic fatigue syndrome.

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Etymology

Origin of yuppie flu

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

For a long time, ME/CFS—which is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome and bears a strong resemblance to some cases of long COVID—was popularly referred to as “yuppie flu.”

From Slate

In 1985, after another apparent outbreak in Incline Village, Nev., near Lake Tahoe, the media piled on, derisively calling the condition the “yuppie flu” — or as Newsweek described it in 1990, “a fashionable form of hypochondria.”

From New York Times

In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, C.F.S. was derisively nicknamed “yuppie flu” and “the Hollywood blahs.”

From The New Yorker

Patient advocates say the condition has a history of being dismissed as “yuppie flu” or plain indolence.

From Reuters

Brea's film shows clips of US TV host Larry King calling it "yuppie flu", and TV anchor Katie Couric describing it as "a made-up condition".

From BBC