# “Muestra de v”? Spanish translation of medical terminology **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563 "2018-02-10T02:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/1 "2018-02-10T02:38:39Z")
I was in a hospital room recently that had one of those signs on the wall displaying the name of the nurse on duty, specifics of the visit, and so on. All of the wording on the sign was rendered in English and Spanish (nurse/enfermera, estimated time/ tiempo estimado, etc.). The Spanish translation of “urine sample” was given as “muestra de v”. I was surprised to see just the letter “v” alone like that. I got up close to the sign to see if some letters were worn or scratched off - it appeared not. So … why “muestra de v” and not “muestra de orina”? And if “v” can translate to “urine” … is that “v” kind of akin to English ‘baby talk’ “wee” or “wee wee” meaning “urine”? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/2 "2018-02-10T07:48:01Z")
Local peculiarity or even typo. You’d have to ask the people involved. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/3 "2018-02-10T08:06:00Z")
After some research it seems like a local peculiarity, slang; a specific use of a general expression. I already knew the plastic sample tubes with the conical bottoms are often called “v” (short for _tubos en uve_), what I find searching uses the expression _muestra de v_ for several kinds of liquid samples. Even without the English part of the sign, I imagine the nurse would not be expecting people to bring their own samples from lumbar punctions (I’ve found several mentions linked to those). I suspect whomever translated it was a practitioner. Spanish-speaking patients will need to either figure it out from the English or ask “¿qué es uve? 😕” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/4 "2018-02-10T12:58:30Z")
Maybe they were using Latin, where “v” and “u” were both written as “v.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/5 "2018-02-10T17:48:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Maybe they were using Latin, where “v” and “u” were both written as “v.” That assumes they are substituting the “v” for “u,” standing for “urine.” But in Spanish, as indicated in the OP, urine is _orina._ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/6 "2018-02-10T19:07:34Z")
No idea, I always ask for muestra de orina. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/7 "2018-02-11T06:49:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Maybe they were using Latin, where “v” and “u” were both written as “v.” Latin like «℞. Rad. liquirit. ℥j. rad. ononid. foenic. an. ℥ss.» ? 🙂 Then it would be something like «exemplum urinae» ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muestra-de-v-spanish-translation-of-medical-terminology/808563/8 "2018-02-11T07:25:44Z")
Just another guess, but a common reason for taking urine samples in a hospital setting isn’t for chemical analysis but to measure the **V** olume of urine being produced. It might be a shorthand way to signify they are monitoring the volume every 12 or 24 hours.