# Brits: what does "working as a locum" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479 "2017-01-06T19:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/21 "2017-01-07T17:55:50Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I think patients feel more at ease if they hear that the doctor treating them isn’t a temp but a locum. Latin is often assumed to mean something positive. Latin is always impressive. In a Woody Allen short story, a patient died of a [genu varum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genu_varum). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/22 "2017-01-07T20:41:11Z")
Re: Latin and Medicine. We were chatting with our doctor a couple weeks ago and she mentioned something might be idiopathic and laughed. She asked us if we knew what that meant. We both did. “I don’t know (the cause).” basically. “Hey doc, what the hey is this weird thing on my arm.” “Oh, that, it’s idiopathic. Just keep an eye on it.” “Great doc, thanks a lot. What a load off my mind.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/23 "2017-01-07T23:09:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > the Baader-Meinhof now… Where did you get that term for “noticing EVERYWHERE something that you never thought of before seeing it mentioned somewhere”? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/24 "2017-01-07T23:31:27Z")
Locum doctors are common here in the UK. Hospitals have to have a minimum number of medics on duty at all times, so if a regular member of staff is unavailable, or a vacancy yet to be filled, a locum is called in, usually from an agency. GPs often use locums too and being a locum is a good way for a newly qualified doctor to earn extra money as they do it when off duty from their regular jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/25 "2017-01-07T23:51:12Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Where did you get that term for “noticing EVERYWHERE something that you never thought of before seeing it mentioned somewhere”? Here? It’s unfortunate that that’s its name. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/26 "2017-01-07T23:52:40Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Latin is always impressive. > > In a Woody Allen short story, a patient died of a [genu varum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genu_varum). 🙂 Is that the same story that mentions a Dr. Brackish Menses? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/27 "2017-01-08T00:22:29Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Not just medics but also architects, lawyers, pharmacists etc. Sometimes they will be contractors but often they will be employees. > > There is no mystery. Many professions use terms which are rarely used or needed in public discourse. > > The term locum tends to be confined to professions where knowledge and qualifications are the requirements to do the work. There is also the matter of being bound by rules of ethics and the responsibility for doing specialised work. A mistake leads to liability which often sheets home to the business partner whose work is being done. A locum is far more than a temp. I can’t find a cite, natch, but I’ve also seen the term in British literature used to refer to a substitute clergyman in the Church of England, who fills in for a vicar or curate. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/28 "2017-01-08T02:19:37Z")
I’ve seen “locum” used for clergymen in PG Wodehouse. Here’s a quote from “The Great Sermon Handicap”: “What an amazing lot of clergymen there are round here. Why, there’s another, next to Mrs. Willis.” “That’s Mr. Bates, Mr. Heppenstall’s nephew. He’s an assistant-master at Eton. He’s down here during the summer holidays, acting as locum tenens for Mr. Spettigue, the rector of Gandle-by-the-Hill.” [http://madameulalie.org/strand/The\_Great\_Sermon\_Handicap.html](http://madameulalie.org/strand/The_Great_Sermon_Handicap.html) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/29 "2017-01-08T02:24:58Z")
What’s “an S.P. job?” ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/30 "2017-01-08T02:48:09Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What’s “an S.P. job?” It’s a horse-race betting term. S.P. = Starting Price. You can place a bet but take the odds at the start of a race, rather than the odds pertaining at the time the bet is placed. With a bit of insider information about the field, it’s possible to manipulate this to your advantage. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/31 "2017-01-08T03:09:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Here? > > It’s unfortunate that that’s its name. It originated, to the best of my knowledge, in the reader-comment “Bulletin Board” section of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which is where I heard of it for the first time. I just wondered if you were a PiPress reader at one time, as I was when I lived in the Cities. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479/32 "2017-01-08T14:27:49Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s a horse-race betting term. S.P. = Starting Price. You can place a bet but take the odds at the start of a race, rather than the odds pertaining at the time the bet is placed. With a bit of insider information about the field, it’s possible to manipulate this to your advantage. Thanks. Now I gotta worry about that kid in the spoon and egg race, and making sure no one nobbles the dog by giving him steak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-what-does-working-as-a-locum-mean/776479.md?page=1)