# Doc Martin Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 13, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557 "2025-06-13T03:11:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/1 "2025-06-13T03:11:54Z")
**Season 1, Episode 5** Receptionist Elaine is coming on to Computer Tech Al: - Been looking for you. - Yeah? - How come you never asked me out? - You was with Greg; so… - Yeah. Also; you were a bit of a non. - Yeah; I suppose I was. - Yeah. - But you’re not a non any more. - Right. - So… you could ask me out. - OK. - D’you wanna go out? - I don’t know! - Are you a good kisser? - I don’t know. They start snogging. My question: What is a “non”? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/2 "2025-06-13T03:16:55Z")
Either a nonce, meaning a bit of a doofus, or a non-starter. Probably a nonce. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/3 "2025-06-13T03:23:57Z")
Thank you. Now I can sleep tonight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/4 "2025-06-13T03:58:43Z")
It’s not likely to be _nonce_, which in BrE slang is a sexual deviant, particularly a child abuser. Could it be _nong_, a foolish or stupid person? The OED has it marked as Australian and New Zealand slang, but in recent decades a fair amount of Australian slang has made its way into informal BrE through the influence of Australian TV soaps, and Elaine and Al are of the generation that would have picked up and used that slang. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/5 "2025-06-13T04:40:58Z")
Nor would Al be likely to say “i was a deviant once, but I’m not anymore,” especially since we’ve also never seen any evidence of it. The above transcript was taken off the Internet, BTW. It’s not my work. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/6 "2025-06-13T05:21:51Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > It’s not likely to be _nonce_, which in BrE slang is a sexual deviant, particularly a child abuser. It may not be nonce, but I have never heard it used **that** way. For most of my life it’s just been a silly name for idiots, which I figured was short for ‘nonsense’. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/7 "2025-06-13T05:50:03Z")
I’m not a pro with British accents, but couldn’t it be “nun”, as in prudish or inexperienced? To my American ears, I hear the “u” sound more than an “o” sound. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/8 "2025-06-13T06:27:55Z")
Hardly, if it’s being used of a man. “Non-starter” sounds more likely (=too shy to ask her out?) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/9 "2025-06-13T07:09:41Z")
Yeah, if non itself isn’t a term already, then the context she uses it in seems to mean “non-starter” or “non-person” or something like that. Something she would never consider. For more context from the episode, Al has been impressing Elaine by not only fixing her computer and printer but also when he smooooovely puts his hand on hers as they work her mouse in unison. Then later in the pub she learns he’s into the same cool music she is in to. So basically, she never thought he was cool boyfriend material, now she does. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/10 "2025-06-13T07:10:58Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It may not be nonce, but I have never heard it used **that** way. For most of my life it’s just been a silly name for idiots, which I figured was short for ‘nonsense’. My own impression is that the “sexual deviant/child offender” sense is the dominant one, but I have to admit that this is largely based on seeing it used in British police/prison TV shows . The Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t even know about the “idiot” sense; they only offer this one. They have quotations exemplifying this use going back to 1970. Macquarie, the standard dictionary for Australian English, also only gives the “child sex offender” sense, and notes that it’s “chiefly British colloquial”. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/11 "2025-06-13T07:11:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It may not be nonce, but I have never heard it used **that** way. You’ve led a charmed and sheltered life! Or haven’t been watching the right Police dramas. Nonce is what paedophiles get called in prison. Unfortunately I have close-ish knowledge of this, as a friend recently spent time in prison, and was upset when she discovered she was sharing a cell with ‘a nonce’. So I think it’s safe to assume the writers of the nice, gentle, family drama Doc Martin would have picked another word. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/12 "2025-06-13T07:25:42Z")
I guess I was just missing the context. I feel strange now, like I’m in topsy turvy land. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/13 "2025-06-13T07:38:25Z")
Be grateful your mind is pure and unsullied by the nasties of this world. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/14 "2025-06-13T08:09:51Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > So I think it’s safe to assume the writers of the nice, gentle, family drama Doc Martin would have picked another word. Doc Martin’s patients Drew Peacock, Ben Twilly and Dan Gleebles (and his wife Jan) might think differently. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/15 "2025-06-13T13:27:23Z")
Since I started hearing those, I’ve always paid close attention whenever he calls patients into the surgery. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/16 "2025-06-13T18:45:37Z")
[This link](https://youtu.be/mzlxphwjV2s?t=1133) should drop you right at the part where this conversation takes place for those who would rather hear the voice than rely on a transcript. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/17 "2025-06-13T19:19:57Z")
Would anyone else actually appreciate having Doc Martin as their general practitioner/primary care physician? No nonsense but at the same time, really excellent diagnostic skills. Though he would be frank about telling me to lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/18 "2025-06-13T22:06:54Z")
Dawk? Sorry, thought it said _Don_ Martin Question. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/19 "2025-06-14T09:25:04Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > [This link](https://youtu.be/mzlxphwjV2s?t=1133) should drop you right at the part where this conversation takes place Unfortunately not available for the UK! And it’s been taken down from Dailymotion, which is my usual alternative ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557/20 "2025-06-14T09:35:00Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Unfortunately not available for the UK! And it’s been taken down from Dailymotion, which is my usual alternative. If you have Opera, the free built in VPN set to “Americas” works. And it’s definitely short for “nonstarter” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-question/1019557.md?page=2)