Latin is always impressive.
In a Woody Allen short story, a patient died of a genu varum. 
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.”
Where did you get that term for “noticing EVERYWHERE something that you never thought of before seeing it mentioned somewhere”?
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.
Here?
It’s unfortunate that that’s its name.
Is that the same story that mentions a Dr. Brackish Menses?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.