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Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

dormire di spalle o a pancia sopra

English translation:

sleep on one's side or on one's back

Added to glossary by Paul O'Brien
Jul 17, 2008 18:07
15 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Italian term

dormire di spalle o a pancia sopra

Italian to English Other Medical: Health Care
google very little help here. maybe they mean "pancia in sopra", i.e in a supine position? dormire di spalle seems to refer to couples who sleep with their backs to each other and gets very few mmentions on google. at any rate, they're talking about healthy backs from healthy sleep on good quality mattresses. here's the sentence:

"E' evidente che per una persona che non soffre di gravi problemi dormire su un supporto rigido è spesso dannoso in quanto essendo una posizione innaturale il riposo risulta sporadico e poco gratificante perché la colonna vertebrale è costretta a stare per tutta la notte in una posizione di tensione innaturale soprattutto se si dorme di spalle o a pancia sopra".
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 sleeping on one's side or supine sleeping (lying on one's back)
4 +1 sleeping on one's (the) stomach/on one's (the) back
4 +1 to sleep on side or on the backs
4 lie face-up
5 -1 sleep while lying on one´s front (or face down) or on one´s back
4 sleep leaning on one's shoulder or on one's back
4 -1 upside down sleeping

Discussion

Rossella Mainardis Jul 19, 2008:
more double split hairs t to split ...
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2539.html

sleeping positions are personal. As long as you're comfy, there really isn't a wrong way to sleep. According to some doctors ...
Rossella Mainardis Jul 19, 2008:
splitting double split hairs... please do tell us what you have translated in this never ending flow of consciousness... di spalle is sleeeping on your side and pancia sopra is on your back... maybe human morphology has changed in the mean time
Paul O'Brien (asker) Jul 17, 2008:
perhaps a distinction needs to be made between the fetal position (humanity's favourite) and "on your side" (the log position in alessandra's interesting list).
texjax DDS PhD Jul 17, 2008:
Secondo me la chiave sta nel fatto che parlano di supporto rigido. Se dormi a pancia in su, la colonna sta in tensione...se dormi di spalle, di lato, la colonna è costretta a stare curva e in tensione. Sono comunque incerta.
Raffaella Panigada Jul 17, 2008:
No, di spalle indica che si dorme a pancia in giù. Proni o supini, su un materasso troppo rigido non si dorme!
texjax DDS PhD Jul 17, 2008:
ripetere due volte la stessa cosa. Mah...?
Raffaella Panigada Jul 17, 2008:
They might be referring to the part that stays on top: di pancia>supine, di spalle>prone (si danno le spalle a chi osserva), but as I said this is the first time I hear it phrased this way.
texjax DDS PhD Jul 17, 2008:
mah..anche io sono in dubbio su spalle..ma sarebbe sinonimo di dormire a pancia in su, mi sembra che non avrebbe senso.
Liliana Roman-Hamilton Jul 17, 2008:
Mi confonde il "dormire di spalle", pero'. Secondo me e' sinonimo di dormire a pancia sopra e non di lato. Da quanto ne so la dormire di lato (sdraiati su un lato) dovrebbe essere la posizione ideale (lo fanno vedere in molte pubblicita' di materassi.
Paul O'Brien (asker) Jul 17, 2008:
so where do the shoulders come into sleeping in a prone position?
Raffaella Panigada Jul 17, 2008:
Sì, normalmente si dice "a pancia in su" (supine) e "a pancia in giù (prone). My first though for "di spalle" was "on the side", but prone makes much more sense especially considering how uncomfortable sleeping on hard surfaces prone is (believe me, I do!
Paul O'Brien (asker) Jul 17, 2008:
thatnks lil. ans what's "di spalla"? on your side?
Liliana Roman-Hamilton Jul 17, 2008:
Dormire supino (a pancia sopra ovvero disteso con la schiena sul materasso). Dormire prono (a pancia sotto). HTH

Proposed translations

+5
18 mins
Selected

sleeping on one's side or supine sleeping (lying on one's back)

mi sembra che si dica così, giusto?

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Note added at 20 mins (2008-07-17 18:27:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

dormire di spalle credo sia dormire di lato..

Io comunque sono a posto con la schiena, dormo a pancia in giù.. :)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Alessandra Renna : dormire di spalle sarebbe a pancia in giù con le spalle in su/diciamo che non è scritto in italiano
3 mins
Ho capito cosa intendevi. Mah, forse hai ragione. Certo che non è descritto troppo chiaramente
agree ivanamdb : si anch'io di spalla lo interpreto come dormire di lato, sul fianco
9 mins
adesso ho i dubbi, però...
agree moranna (X) : interpreto cosi anchi'io: lying flat on your back or lying on you side :http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/best-sleeping-positions-for...
1 hr
grazie
agree grazy73 : Per me questa interpretazione e' correttissima!!! :)
2 hrs
grazie grazy
agree Mary Carroll Richer LaFlèche : side and supine seems right, it would have been a pancia sopra e sotto otherwise
2 hrs
il mio stesso ragionamento. Ciao, buona domenica
agree Rossella Mainardis : sleeping on your side (fianco) or on your back, leggo così
4 hrs
grazie Miss "hair splitter" :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "to say "face down" was too risky, and not many people do it. also with couples, "di spalle" is with their backs to each other, hence both on thei sides."
+1
19 mins

sleeping on one's (the) stomach/on one's (the) back

http://surveycentral.org/survey/485.html
http://www.geriatria.unimo.it/postura.htm
http://hotels.about.com/cs/travelerstools/a/sleep_positions....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 24 min (2008-07-17 18:32:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

di spalla: on your stomach with your back upwards
a pancia sopra: on your back
Peer comment(s):
agree Gina Ferlisi
2 hrs
Grazie, Gina
neutral Rossella Mainardis : no, you're right, but I'm definitely going to investigate on shoulder upsidedown sleeping :-)
2 days 3 hrs
have you ever done a survey?.-))
Something went wrong...
24 mins

lie face-up

e a pancia in giu lie face-down
questo è quello che mi viene in mente
o anche sleep lying face-up
www.healthilife.co.uk/news.php?id=160
non mi viene in mente niente con le spalle

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2008-07-17 18:35:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ovviamente da brava rintronata dimenticavo la parte dormire di spalla, ma quello l'ha già detto texjax
Something went wrong...
+1
32 mins

to sleep on side or on the backs

Dormire di spalle o di lato o di fianco sono espressioni che hanno lo stesso significato.
Reference:

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/sleepingpositions.html

http://med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_infslpos_hhg.htm

Peer comment(s):
neutral Alessandra Renna : sinceramente io non ho mai sentito dormire di spalle per indicare sul lato a meno che non si dorma in 2, cioè dandosi le spalle
3 mins
Questa espressione puo' non essere molto comune, ma credimi, la si sente anche in contesti come questo.
agree Rossella Mainardis
2 days 4 hrs
Grazie Rossella!
Something went wrong...
-1
4 mins

upside down sleeping

anche si dice cosí!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 34 mins (2008-07-17 18:42:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Hi Pauley!,I mean that usually in Cuba we say "boca-arriba",that means "upside down" like making abdominal exercises,with the belly,knees and chin upside.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 mins (2008-07-17 18:44:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

to be exact:decubitus supinus!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2008-07-17 18:44:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

decubitus supinus sleeping
Note from asker:
how do you mean, vlad?
now i understand.
Peer comment(s):
disagree Rossella Mainardis : sleeeping upside down :=) ? oh come on!
2 days 4 hrs
firstable,it´s no sleeeping,..It´s sleeping,with two "e",second:this is a concept or a term in Physical education as "decubitus supinus".So....Come on!
Something went wrong...
-1
2 hrs

sleep while lying on one´s front (or face down) or on one´s back

or colloquial: sleep while lying on the back or on the belly
Peer comment(s):
disagree Rossella Mainardis : on your back on your side
2 days 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

sleep leaning on one's shoulder or on one's back

Though I basically agree with those who answered that "di spalle" means on one's side, I feel it would be more accurate to stay closer to the original Italian and use the word "shoulder". After all, the original Italian text put emphasis on "spalle" rather than "lato". When one sleeps leaning against one's shoulder, it does not necessarily mean that he or she is lying completely on one's side. In fact, the lower back can be almost completely flat against the mattress with only the upper back being twisted to lean into the shoulders. But I am not really disagreeing with those who said "on the side". I think those are fine translations, too, but I would personally prefer to translate it as "sleep leaning on one's shoulder" as it seems closer to the Italian text.

As for the comments of some who stated that "alle spalle" means "prone", I could be mistaken, but if I were describing the "prone" position, I wouldn't use the word shoulders because it's not like you're leaning most of your weight on your shoulders in the prone position, nor is it one of the main parts of your body that comes in contact with mattress when one is sleeping in the prone position. To describe the prone position, I would use words like "on one's stomach" or "on one's chest", not "on one's shoulders".
But I'm not saying that others are wrong. The truth is that this text is a bit unclear, but this is the way that I would translate it as I feel it is accurate and close to the original Italian text.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Rossella Mainardis : di spalla doesn't exactly mean on your stomach, it just means di spalla so on your "shoulder" but veryyyy few few people sleep on their shoulders, many sleep on their side/s
2 days 1 hr
My comment about" one's stomach" was a response to others' comments about the prone position. I wasn't implying it to mean "di spalle". I think “di spalle” means on your side & in some cases just leaning into your shoulder a little as you tilt to the side
Something went wrong...
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