*smh* Stop Trying to Seem “Smart”

Irritating. A writer whose text I usually enjoy and often glean lil bits of useful info from (concerning an amateur, casual perusal of a lit sub genre revealing characteristics of a limited demographic. . . which I have found useful in communicating with some 20-somethings) regularly misuses a BrE expression that has leaked into a broader sphere: locum, as an abbreviated form of “locum tenens.”

The term actually refers to “a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. . .” “A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy.” (these defs per just about every web reference there is. *heh*) Unfortunately, misusing the term to indicate “location, place” reveals much more about the writer’s literacy (and perhaps about the communication standards within the writer’s intended readership – a demographic I do not fit *heh*) than may be intended.