Down syndrome
Is there another way to say Down syndrome than "sindrome de Down" or "mongolismo"'
10 Answers
I think the reason user BILL VAN is asking is because "síndrome de DOWN" does not sound right to the ear of a Spanish speaker, therefore his patients are reticent to accept the wording DOWN, whether it is the "correct", or most widely used form, or not. It just doesn't sound right. I have heard the condition referred to as "síndrome mongoloide".
bill van eimeren said:
The reason I'm looking for an alternative is that my patients don't understand "sindrome de Down" (no accent because I haven't figured out how to do it on my computer) and I don't want to participate in linguistic racism.
Bill, as I said before, in Spain at least everyone calls it "síndrome de Down"; that's the only name everyone recognizes. Many people are probably not aware that "mongolismo" is the same thing, and as you probably know, it is not the best term to use nowadays.
So, either there is another term going around, or your patients simply don't have enough general knowledge to be aware of such syndrome, i.e. they simply don't know what it is, and that's why there might be no point in trying to find a word for something they don't know. Imagine a mathematician trying to find another term for "covariant tensor" because most Spanish speakers don't know what it is. Of course they don't know, but it is simply because they've never come across something like that before.
Definitely "síndrome de Down"; "mongolismo" is not politically correct nowadays.
Hi Bill. If they do not recognize the term, first try to use "mongolismo", which might be understood better. If they don't', you can try to explain. You will find lots of information on the web.
The reason I'm looking for an alternative is that my patients don't understand "sindrome de Down" (no accent because I haven't figured out how to do it on my computer) and I don't want to participate in linguistic racism.
Bill
James Santiago said:
Bill, I'm just curious as to why you are looking for another way of saying this. Is there something you think is unsatisfactory with "síndrome de Down"?
Pergolesi, "Down" must be capitalized, both in English and in Spanish, because the syndrome was named for the English physician John Langdon Down, who first described it.
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Bill, I'm just curious as to why you are looking for another way of saying this. Is there something you think is unsatisfactory with "síndrome de Down"?
Pergolesi, "Down" must be capitalized, both in English and in Spanish, because the syndrome was named for the English physician John Langdon Down, who first described it.
My internet search confirms that "síndrome de down" is the official way to say it. (i.e. Wikipedia)
I would guess that other terms that are out there might not be flattering.
Hola Bill: No que yo sepa.
I don't know, but you need an accent on síndrome.
