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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

acné mentoniano

English translation:

chin acne

Added to glossary by Owen Munday
Jul 25, 2009 20:31
14 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Spanish term

acné mentoniano

Spanish to English Science Medical (general) Dermatology
From a list of different types of acne:

"**Acné mentoniano**: básicamente se localiza en el mentón, sobre todo en mujeres, y
se relaciona en la mayoría de los casos con los trastornos menstruales."

What's the correct, accepted term for this in English? Mentonian acne? Mental acne? Chin acne?? I can't find a reliable reference, and I need to make sure I'm using the correct formal term.

Spanish from Spain. Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +6 chin acne
3 +1 acne on the chin
5 -2 mentonian acne
3 mental acne
3 Jawline acne

Discussion

Cecilia Gowar Jul 26, 2009:
If you look at the types of acne, they are vulgaris, rosaea, etc, that can be mild, moderate or severe. As Muriel says, there is no acne specific to the chin:
http://www.acne.org/types-of-acne.html
I believe what I proposed is widespread expression to refer to a break up on the chin, or you could opt for "acne on the chin".
The phrase in Spanish does not sound like a scientific text to me, more like an informative one.
David Russi Jul 26, 2009:
Nicely put, Muriel I agree with you entirely.
Muriel Vasconcellos Jul 26, 2009:
I rescind 'mental acne' You're right. Even if it were correct, there aren't enough examples. That means that the term would not be recognized or respected by technical readers. Please note the alternative recasting that I have suggested at the end of my answer.
David Russi Jul 26, 2009:
A reference, frequency analysis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15663343

I think the problem is that acne on the chin is a pretty specific subject, and acne studies tend to be more general than that. But, really, when you consider simply frequency as a factor, the answer is more than clear:

Results 1 - 10 of about 16,200 for "chin acne". (0.11 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,960 for "acne on the chin". (0.30 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 184 for "mental acne". (0.08 seconds)
Results 1 - 4 of 4 for "mentonian acne". (0.14 seconds) ) >> all translations from Spanish (not surprising), plus this post
Owen Munday (asker) Jul 26, 2009:
I need a reliable reference!! Many thanks for everyone's contributions, but I'm not really any more the wiser than when I started. So the three options are still what I had at the beginning: chin acne, mentonian acne and mental acne. Chin acne gets lots of Google hits (unsurprisingly) but in this case Google hits aren't enough. I really need a reliable reference that uses one of these terms in a well-written, trustworthy text. Can anyone out there help?? Mental acne makes sense to me but, why aren't there any good references out there? I'm afraid I can't read any of the ones posted by Muriel.
David Russi Jul 26, 2009:
Yes, mental! Websters:

mental
Pronunciation:*
Function:adjective
Etymology:Latin mentum chin + English -al; akin to Welsh mant mouth, lip, Latin mont-, mons mountain * more at MOUNT
: of or relating to the chin, the median part of the lower jaw, or the mentum of an insect : GENIAL
Roxanna Delgado Jul 26, 2009:
The adjective that means "related or pertaining to the chin" is "mental" (as Owen mentions) and not "mentonian". So if in this case you need to use the technical term it would be "mental acne" as funny as it sounds.
Barbara Cochran, MFA Jul 26, 2009:
Literal Translation Of Technical Medical Terms The source text seems to be a definition of "mentonian acne." Why would the asker want to be redundant and mention "chin" in the same sentence twice? That would be a poor piece of writing. Anyway, the term is technical medical jargon like that which would appear on a medical report or in a medical journal, or in an article written for laypersons. Technical terms are best translated literally, unlike what is the case with literary translation.

In addition to being a translator, I am a freelance writer and often write English-language health-related articles for the general public. In those cases, it is still not uncommon to use the technical term, and then define it, like what was done here, in the source text.
Barbara Cochran, MFA Jul 26, 2009:
"Mentonian" Is Correct For those of you who have quoted non-pertinent sources, according to Elsevier's Spanish/English Dictionary of Medicine, mentoniano=mentonian (related to the jaw), and by a logical extension, to the chin.
Muriel Vasconcellos Jul 25, 2009:
From googling "chin acne" I learned that in adults it's almost always due to hormonal imbalance and occurs almost always on the chin, so it's often equated with "adult hormonal acne." However, this is a leap because adult hormonal acne can (though it does not usually) occur on other body sites.

Proposed translations

+6
22 mins
Selected

chin acne

That's how I've seen it mostly
http://www.acnetalks.com/pimple/Acne-Basics/Acne-Location/Ch...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 days (2009-08-05 10:00:32 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks Owen. I believe you made the right choice as I explained in the discussion window.
Peer comment(s):
agree Rachel Fell
1 hr
Thanks Rachel!
agree Jairo Payan : 16.300 hits para "chin acne" vs 3 para "mentonian acne".
1 hr
¡Gracias Jairo!
agree Roxanna Delgado
1 hr
¡Gracias Roxanna!
agree Leda Roche
4 hrs
Thanks Denise!
agree David Russi
4 hrs
Thanks David!
agree Cynthia Coan : Even a doctor would probably be far more likely to call it "chin acne" than "mentonian acne."
1 day 19 hrs
Thanks Cynthia! I am sure that is the case.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to everyone for their help. A little frustrating, this one. I would've liked to use a more technical term but without more reliable references I've gone for this, the safe option. Thanks!"
+1
18 mins

acne on the chin

a little closer
Peer comment(s):
agree Rachel Fell : also possible, though prob. wouldn't work in Asker's sentence
1 hr
Thank you , Rachel. I do appreciate your agreement and comment.
Something went wrong...
-2
1 hr

mentonian acne

Caused by menses in females.
Reference:

http://medicc.org/publications/medicc.../V//.../therapeutic.html

Peer comment(s):
neutral Rachel Fell : this seems to be the only ref. and the link above doesn't work, BTW
32 mins
It is the correct option. Even if the link doesn't work, all the asker has to do is google my translation and he'll find it's the correct option.
disagree Roxanna Delgado : Sorry femme, this is incorrect in English. "Mentonian" is not an adjective in English. The only 2 hits are translations from Cuba./ Funny as it is, the adjective is actually "mental" according to Dorland's, Mosby, Navarro and other of my medical books.
1 hr
Sorry, Roxanna, but you are the one who is wrong. There are may hits for the term on google (many more than 2). It is an adjective that means "related to the jaw."
disagree David Russi : Not in my Webster's unabridged, not even the American Heritage dict... Sorry, it's not in my copy of Elseviers either, not in Tabers, not in Mellon's etc. Menton is, but NOT mentonian...
2 hrs
Your sources are not pertinent, David. See my source in the linguistic discussion.
Something went wrong...
12 hrs

mental acne

I was able to find a few medical articles that use this term, though it's not very common. Here are some examples:

American Journal of Clinical Dermatology 4: 75-80, No. 2, 2003
mental acne systems can inhibit the growth of comedones. [5,9]. Although most researchers believe that inflammatory acne lesions develop from microcomedones ...
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/derm/2003/.../art00001
by LE Millikan - 2003

Chapter P Pharmacological models in dermatology
mental acne model to evaluate topically active comedo- lyric and anti-keratinizing agents (Kligman and Klig- man 1979; Ashton et al. 1984; Mezick et al. ...
www.springerlink.com/index/q677u1516t68ju0q.pdf

Receptors of skin after a topical medicines to combat mental acne preparations with caution while using ointment. Kidney disease or immune system problems ...
uu4b42w1brandezwco-u.hostrator.com/?page=acheter-du-viagra...

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Note added at 20 hrs (2009-07-26 17:01:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I read all the entries under 'acne' in Dorland's Medical Dictionary, and none of them is specific to the chin. The closest is "acne cosmetica: a persistent low-grade type of acne usually involving the chin and cheeks of women who use cosmetics," which would not apply in this case. The dictionary doesn't even mention 'hormonal acne', which is typically associated with the chin.

I think what we have learned from this exercise that there is, in fact, no accepted medical term. The few I have cited do not make a strong case, even if they could be read. The low frequencies for 'mentonian acne' and 'mental acne' really mean that there is no accepted scientific term.

I therefore suggest that you recast your sentence to read something like: "When acne is located mainly on the chin, in women it is usually associated with menstrual disorders." (That fits with the description of hormonal acne, which I mentioned when I started the discussion.)
Something went wrong...
19 hrs

Jawline acne

http://www.articlesbase.com/acne-articles/jawline-acne-cause...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2009-07-26 18:15:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ACNE ON THE JAWLINE
Something went wrong...
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