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servizio terapeutico-riabilitativo
l’andamento delle negoziazioni e dei corsi
Oct 8, 2008 19:59
15 yrs ago
45 viewers *
Italian term

Parafarmacia

Italian to English Medical Medical: Pharmaceuticals
Is there an English term for this? i.e. a pharmacy/chemist/drugstore that is not authorised to sell perscription medicines. I know that they're selling 'over the counter' items, I just want to know if there's a word for the place. Thanks!

"Con il termine "parafarmacia" si intende un punto vendita simile alla farmacia ma che, come unica differenza da quest'ultima, non può vendere farmaci che necessitano obbligatoriamente di ricetta medica "
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 parapharmacy
5 +1 a chemist´s shop or drugstore (US)
4 health and beauty shop/store
4 Drug store
4 drug store/chemist's (not authorized to sell prescription mediciines)
3 Shop selling OTC medicines
References
parapharmaceutical sector
a few hits
parapharmacies

Discussion

Inter-Tra Mar 11, 2017:
I was not aware of this Kudoz http://www.proz.com/kudoz/italian_to_english/medical_pharmac...
Dana Rinaldi Oct 9, 2008:
Thanks Patricia. I agree with your reasons above. Honestly I don't like the word either but it is starting to be used in the UK too.
Patricia Crotty (asker) Oct 9, 2008:
reasons for answer chosen Well first of all a big huge thank you to everyone!
Actually I wasn't very clear in my question. 'Parafarmacia' came up in my translation with reference to a guy who had opened one and shouldn't have, so the definition I provided in the question was just one that I had found on the Internet to let you know what it was.
While I agree with SJLD that 'health and beauty shop' might be a good option, I don't think it gives the idea that the place also sells aspirin etc. I can't get my head around the drugstore idea suggested by many, since my (non-informed) notion of drugstore is associated with prescription as well as non-prescription products. The idea of calling it a drugstore/chemist and then adding the explanation was good too, but somehow too unwieldly. Soooo... I think I'll have to go with parapharmacy. I don't really like it, because as I suspected and many pointed out it's just not used in English (the google results are all just French/Italian translations), but since the concept of parapharmaceutical exists, I guess it will have to do. (sorry for being so long-winded here). Thanks again!
Mirra_ Oct 8, 2008:
sorry perhaps it would have been better to put all this in the discussion space...
Mirra_ Oct 8, 2008:
than the pharmacies. About it there are lots of EU documents but the term is not well defined yet since this market is still expanding and consolidating (despite the obvious slowings due to pharmacies conunter attacks...;)
Mirra_ Oct 8, 2008:
where traditionally pharmacies are pharmacies and supermarkets are supermarkets.
As a matter of fact the better way to translate it is exactly as it is called, i.e. parapharmacy. :) Shops that sell OTC and other body products, usually, at lower prices
Mirra_ Oct 8, 2008:
in France where this term seems to be firstly officially used): that is lower prices than pharmacies/drugstores. Moreover these kinds of 'medicine shops' seem to be born as shops embedded in big megastores.
Just for this they born in Europe (France?),
Mirra_ Oct 8, 2008:
I guess that the basis of your doubts could be the original text you have. Indeed, that definition is not truly complete since lookink for looking for and again looking for :) there is another peculiarity that identifies pharaparmacies (in Europe, mainly
Ellen Kraus Oct 8, 2008:
In European countries, as far as I know, chemists´shops are not authorized to sell medicine prescribed by doctors. Maybe it is different in US drugstores.

Proposed translations

+5
2 mins
Selected

parapharmacy

parapharmacy
Note from asker:
Personally I've never heard of a "parapharmacy" in English (I could be wrong) but the google references I see don't inspire me at all.
Peer comment(s):
agree Mirra_ : sì sì :))
25 mins
Grazie Mirra
agree Lionel_M (X)
30 mins
thanks Lionel
agree Francesca Battaglia : si, l ho digitato anch'io su google e mi sono ritornati decine di risultati. COme mai non ti soddisfacevano?
55 mins
it seems to be widely used. Thanks Francesca
agree Gina Ferlisi : Perfect Dana!! certainly agree :)
1 hr
Thanks Gina. It's a recent term in italian too and "parafarmacie" are popping up everywhere now!
agree Joanna M Cas (X) : not yet common, atleast in UK; maybe consider weaving in an explanation if u think it's needed for the reader? Chemists at least in the UK do sell prescription medicines, and u clearly need to differentiate here.
1 hr
yes, I agree with adding an explanation
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you! But as I tried to explain above I think it's more the lesser of evils. "
+1
6 mins

a chemist´s shop or drugstore (US)

the assortment of these shops does not include medicine precribed by doctors
Note from asker:
But chemist's and drug stores DO sell prescription medicines. Again, as I said above, I want to know if there is a term for a place that sells over the counter medicines only!
Thanks Ellen
Thanks Ellen
Peer comment(s):
agree Lise Leavitt : Drug store, yes...but they do sell by prescriptions also :)
7 mins
neutral Shera Lyn Parpia : ummmmmm...... you can get prescription drugs here.
7 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr

health and beauty shop/store

It's a possibility.

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Note added at 1 hr (2008-10-08 21:13:27 GMT)
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Superdrug - HomeShop online with Superdrug, the United Kingdom's second-largest beauty and health retailer currently operating over 900 stores in England, Scotland, ...
www.superdrug.com/

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Note added at 1 hr (2008-10-08 21:35:13 GMT)
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http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/cosmetics_beauty...
Note from asker:
Thanks SJLD
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

Drug store

This is the American version of "parafarmacia"
Chemist is UK english
Pharmacy is US english
and they both sell prescription drugs.
Note from asker:
Thanks Barbara
Something went wrong...
13 hrs

drug store/chemist's (not authorized to sell prescription mediciines)

Parapharmacy is NOT used in the UK (I don't know about the US) simply because the concept doesn't exist! In my opinion you have to explain the term. The reference I have given is from Spanish but gives the way that dictionary defines it.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2008-10-09 09:27:04 GMT)
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Oops, prescription medicines of course.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2008-10-09 09:32:13 GMT)
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Obviously the extract in question would require rephrasing. Maybe you could add that these places exist in other European countries.
Reference:

http://books.google.com/books?id=fo5YvOZEhhYC&pg=PA392&lpg=PA392&dq=%22not+authorized+to+sell+prescription+medicines&source=web&ots=aLqOC5h7

Note from asker:
Thanks Kate
Something went wrong...
768 days

Shop selling OTC medicines

I came across this old question when searching for a convincing translation for parafarmacia in one of my own translations. Two years down the line, I have seen nothing which convinces me that parapharmacy is an acceptable term in any variant of English, so I've resorted to "shop selling over the counter medicines". Not very snappy, but it does have the advantage of covering ALL shops that might sell this kind of product - which, in the UK at least, includes supermarkets, garages, newsagents...
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Reference comments

56 mins
Reference:

parapharmaceutical sector

There is certainly a parapharmaceutical sector and "parapharmacy" products (often distinguished from OTC products), but I have never seen parapharmacy used to refer to the place where they are sold in the UK or Australia (haven't been to the US of late). I could be wrong though (haven't been everywhere yet ;-))

"I'm just popping down to the parapharmacy" - no, I don't think so.

http://www.sleever.com/article/81?id=81
Something went wrong...
1 hr
Reference:

a few hits

http://www.parapharmanet.com/boutique_us/liste_rayons.cfm?co...

and t his is interesting since it provides a description which is very close to the one you provided.

http://spanglemonkey.typepad.com/tenten/2004/11/jm_wednesday...
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Gina Ferlisi : agree with your reference Franci :)
3 mins
neutral SJLD : French on both counts
4 mins
Something went wrong...
32 mins
Reference:

parapharmacies

see 01 February - Portugual
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:kPhIez5jcbUJ:girp.eu/in...|lang_it

http://www.google.it/search?num=30&hl=it&safe=off&q=paraphar...


My impression is that in Europe the right translation is 'pharapharmacy', with non doubts at all.
Instead, in the US drugstore and parapharmacy are used with a very similar meaning. (I mean if there exist a difference just few people seems to know it :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 hrs (2008-10-09 19:33:31 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Dear Patricia,
it's not so true that the term is used only in Europe (France and Italy mainly). My fault I didn't report here other researches I made but the term is colonizating US also :)

eg.
(Argentina) Parapharmacies, in particular, recorded rapid growth and are now
present in almost every neighbourhood. As a consequence of a good
overall economic performance, consumers are now more able to plan
their purchases instead of buying what they need on a daily basis from
neighbourhood stores. This consequentially led to a rise in footfall
in chains and shopping trips every one or two weeks.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS72464 01-Sep...

“Parapharmacies” Are Popping Up in the United States
Corinne Azoulai (New York)
http://www.beyondbeautymag.com/article.aspx?issue_id=16&rubr...

(cile) Said Group (BBVA bank) has entered the chemists/pharmacies and parapharmacies/drugstores formats by buying SalcoBrand
http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_Chile

(japan) Parapharmacies/drugstores developed positively as major players pursued aggressive expansion strategies. An underlying factor supporting the expansion of parapharmacies/drugstores chains is growing health awareness amongst Japanese consumers, as well as an ageing population. Together, these two factors are fuelling consumer demand for health and beauty related products
http://www.allbusiness.com/sales/3998430-1.html

(china) Specialist Channels Hang in To Dominate Chemists pharmacies and drugstores parapharmacies jointly dominated expenditure sales of OTC healthcare in 2006. Manifold OTC healthcare products are in truth one shot permitted for sale via these channels. However, these channels both forfeit help during the inspection amplitude as distribution widened for divers products.
http://health-mens.com/post_1197030859.shtml

and many many others... :))
Note from asker:
Thanks Mirra
Thanks Mirra
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