Quote:
Originally Posted by fuzzyroes
It's called Down Syndrome, buddy. Only people belittling the disability refer to it as "Downs".
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Although it's plain enough that you're mostly trying to wind him up, the possessive naming comes from the fact that the condition was first described by a lad named Johnny Langdon Down. Similar deal to Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's, etc.
I don't believe that its official renaming to Down Syndrome in the United States relates to any sort of offensive connotations held by the nomenclature of old and I'm pretty sure it's still known as Down's Syndrome in the United Kingdom.