LOS ANGELES, CA – The American Academy of Naming Medical Things (AANMT) has issued a mandated that sundowning will now be referred to as moonupping until further notice. The terminology switch is effective at 9 PM tonight.
“I don’t know about you guys, but there are some words I’m sick and tired of hearing, and sundowning is one of them,” said AANMT President Alvin Holloway, proudly alert and oriented times four. “I hate hearing about the sun all the time, particularly at night. Plus it sounds so pessimistic, the sun being down. How sad is that?”
Like Holloway, members of the Board of Directors for the AANMT believe that the sun gets too much press as it is. As one person put it, “The moon needs time to shine; moonshine, get it? So rather than being down, let’s get up. Moonupping, that’s what we’re calling it now. Way catchier than sundowning. I hate sundowning.”
The Board of the AANMT voted unanimously 36 to 0 in favor of the name switch. It should be noted that the board is made up entirely of radiologists and dermatologists, which probably explains the ill-fate of the term.
We asked Holloway what he thought about the terms delirium and encephalopathy.
“It’s moonupping, okay, moonupping, end of story!” he replied.