PSA: it's not called "Downs" or "Lymes"

[Anonymous]

This is a pet peeve of mine.

It is Down Syndrome, not Downs. It's Lyme disease, not Lymes. If you care enough to discuss Down Syndrome or Lyme disease, care enough to use the correct terminology.

[Anonymous]

Don’t ever spend time in Baltimore. Before the vaccine, people used to get chicken pops all the time.

[Anonymous]

I did not know that re: Down, as in the UK it is in fact referred to as Down's syndrome with the apostrophe.

[Anonymous]

Lyme's disease (or Lymes disease?) drives me crazy. My DH's family says this. It's named after Lyme, CT, people. Not some long-dead person named Lyme. I correct my DH but he prefers saying it wrong.

[Anonymous]

I'm a medical professional and cringe when people call it Lymes. One of the doctors I work with refuses to say Lyme correctly because she's 'always called it Lymes.'

(She's a real gem.)

[Anonymous]

Silver Springs!

But really, when someone speaks this way you know you're not dealing with an expert and you can just end the conversation early.

[Anonymous]

People do this with store names too: JC Penney’s, Kroger’s, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not know that re: Down, as in the UK it is in fact referred to as Down's syndrome with the apostrophe.

Down's syndrome is correct in The UK and mildly annoying in the U.S.. Downs as a stand alone term (like that child has Downs or worse that child is Downs or a Downs child) is wrong in both countries.

[Anonymous]

But that school & medical center in Baltimore is called JohnS Hopkins, not John Hopkins.

Ex: When we went to Johns Hopkins to get treatment for Larla’s Lyme disease, we saw a family whose son had Down Syndrome.

[Anonymous]

Didn't people used to call that a mongoloid baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not know that re: Down, as in the UK it is in fact referred to as Down's syndrome with the apostrophe.

Down's syndrome is correct in The UK and mildly annoying in the U.S.. Downs as a stand alone term (like that child has Downs or worse that child is Downs or a Downs child) is wrong in both countries.

It’s also correct here, if not necessarily preferred.

Frankly it is a stupid thing to get annoyed by, OP

Are you similarly trouble by Cushing vs cushing’s? Addison vs Addison’s?

They are named after individuals. Using the possessive form has long been the standard form of reference.
You might want to think about a little therapy if something as trivial as that annoys you.

[Anonymous]

In 1975 NIH decides to standardize on the spelling and they dropped the 's.

But they didn't for

Parkinson's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Linguists disagree but The NIH didn't care.

So if you were literate before 1975 it was Down's.

[Anonymous]

I've also heard prostrate cancer.

[Anonymous]

My poor 80something mom can't keep up with the changes.

Says Afro-American, instead of African American.

Oriental instead of Asian or Oriental American. (Ugh)

Loves to point out "female doctor" or "male nurse" or worse, "lovely Afro American female doctor"....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not know that re: Down, as in the UK it is in fact referred to as Down's syndrome with the apostrophe.

Down's syndrome is correct in The UK and mildly annoying in the U.S.. Downs as a stand alone term (like that child has Downs or worse that child is Downs or a Downs child) is wrong in both countries.

It’s also correct here, if not necessarily preferred.

Frankly it is a stupid thing to get annoyed by, OP

Are you similarly trouble by Cushing vs cushing’s? Addison vs Addison’s?

They are named after individuals. Using the possessive form has long been the standard form of reference.
You might want to think about a little therapy if something as trivial as that annoys you.

I am the PP, but not the OP, and I would be annoyed if aome one referred to me as a Cushings person. Especially if that person was opening up a debate on whether my life had merit.