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The Word "Golfing" is a Sin


Kathy LC
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As an insecure, high-handicap female golfer, I would never ask for changes in the game of golf.  I love the blasted game. Though a video of my swing at an early lesson reduced me to swallowed tears, I kept on, only occasionally using Jim Furyk’s swirly style as motivation.  I am no stranger to choking, having lost more Ladies’ League rounds on the back nine than I can count, thus would never comment on Greg Norman’s 1996 Masters humiliation.  A confession:  I once feigned a fainting spell at a lesson when I kept topping the ball and I was sure I heard the Golf Pro groan (or laugh).  So no, I would not request that golf change for me.  I am not good but I am devoted.

But I am hereby begging, begging the golf-writing community and all golfers to stop using the horrid, non-existent verb “to golf.”  Admittedly, this offense is usually perpetrated by generic writers who do not play the game of golf or by generic golfers who do not often write about the sport.  But please, golf is a noun.  One plays golf.  One does not golf.  The Ladies’ League does not golf on Wednesday mornings.   The ladies play golf then.  Gerund-like expressions are equally awful.  “ Golfing is a game for all ages,” is a travesty as is the lazy infinitive form, “Sign up to golf in the men’s locker room” (never mind the dangling modifier).

Daily papers are using this verbish form more and more frequently, revealing the quality of their sports page reporters.  Golfers must surely cringe to read the onerous headline, “Golfing is down at local courses,” not because we golfers worry about the economic downturn, but because “golfing” is not down but “rounds of golf” are.  Journalists listen up:  Golf is a noun.  Golf is a noun.  Golf is a noun!

Do we verb-alize other sports?  Do we tennis?  Do we baseball?  How about football?  Do we do it?  No, no and nope. We play tennis, baseball and football.  No one crickets and no one rugbys.  We do bowl and we do swim but those two words have been verbs from the beginning.   There is only one exception to the noun-only rule for golf.   Golf may be used to modify or define, as in golf clubs, golf tips and golf nuts like me.

Writers, please, don’t be lazy.  Keep the play in golf.   Golf is an ancient and beloved game which is only and always a noun.

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Welcome to the forum @Kathy LC !  Clever first post.  You will see another thread about using the word "game".  "Anyone game a Vokey wedge."  Many don't like that either.

I prefer "play golf" as well.  But sometimes improper phrases make it into the lexicon unfortunately.

Scott

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Funny stuff.  I for one will play golf instead of "golf a round."

But the title threw me off a bit.   I read it as Golf is a sin. The way I play, it is a sin to golf gods.

RiCK

(Play it again, Sam)

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Funny stuff.  I for one will play golf instead of "golf a round."

But the title threw me off a bit.   I read it as Golf is a sin. The way I play, it is a sin to golf gods.

But that is one of the "clever" parts of the post!  The Title!

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

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Welcome Kathy. I hope you stay around. The guys are a nice bunch, and I won't feel alone here. :-) Good first post.

I haven't seen the "recommend me a driver" posts.

And I'll second that the way I play golf is a sin against the golf gods. Bad decisions. Bad decisions on the course.

Julia

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It never really occurred to me that using golf as a verb was a massive problem until I started reading this forum. I seem to recall someone pointing this very thing out recently. I'll do my best to avoid it in the future.

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Just had to google (or is it googling?) golfing and below is one of the 1st ones that showed up.   According to it, golfing is a noun.  Golfing I'll go, a golfing I'l go, .... :-D

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/golfing

RiCK

(Play it again, Sam)

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Just had to google (or is it googling?) golfing and below is one of the 1st ones that showed up.   According to it, golfing is a noun.  Golfing I'll go, a golfing I'l go, ....

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/golfing

Golf is listed as an intransitive verb on merriam-webster.com, too: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golf

It's also in the Oxford dictionary: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/golf?searchDictCode=all

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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(Warning, this post is tongue in cheek) :-P

What does a golfer do? She golfs. Do you call a guy who plays poker a pokerer? No. He's a card player who plays poker.  A guy who pokes you would be a poker.  Is a golfer more properly a golf player? No. How about a kid who plays hooky to golf? Is that kid a hookier? No, but he's a golfer who plays hooky. A shooter shoots. A runner runs. A golfer golfs. What about a ballplayer? They like to play baseball, but they are ballplayers, not baseballers. There is a game of golf that some golfers play all the time, and many golfers never play.

So my question for you is this: If a guy is out whacking at golf balls with golf clubs on a golf course on a Saturday afternoon, keeps extra balls in his pocket for re-hits, and drives his cart all over the fairway and through the woods picking up his lesser efforts on his way to hit is one decent shot and calls himself laying 2, is he playing golf? or is he golfing? And if he is not golfing, what is he doing?

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I want to say welcome, but I'm also a teensy bit offended by this post. :cry: It feels a little personal. ;-)

But seriously ... welcome to the community!


P.S.  I might be playing hooky to go golfing this afternoon ... just sayin. :beer:

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I agree that golf is a noun and it is is correct to "play golf", and not just "golf".  However, over time for many people (and some golfers) the word "golf" is being used as either a verb or a noun.  I do not know at what point the verb golf becomes accepted in academia.  If someone says "I could just golf all day long" I do know what the person is saying.  Or "John lost his job because he was golfing all the time".  At some point I suspect that golf will be accepted as a verb or a noun, just as "fish".  You can catch a fish or you can fish.  You can go fishing.  At some point in our language's evolution the word "fish" became a verb in addition to a noun.

I understand the point being made but I think the language has already changed beyond the point of return in regard to "golf" being only a noun.

Welcome to site!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Just had to google (or is it googling?) golfing and below is one of the 1st ones that showed up.   According to it, golfing is a noun.  Golfing I'll go, a golfing I'l go, ....

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/golfing

Golf is listed as an intransitive verb on merriam-webster.com, too: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golf

It's also in the Oxford dictionary: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/golf?searchDictCode=all

(Warning, this post is tongue in cheek)

What does a golfer do? She golfs. Do you call a guy who plays poker a pokerer? No. He's a card player who plays poker.  A guy who pokes you would be a poker.  Is a golfer more properly a golf player? No. How about a kid who plays hooky to golf? Is that kid a hookier? No, but he's a golfer who plays hooky. A shooter shoots. A runner runs. A golfer golfs. What about a ballplayer? They like to play baseball, but they are ballplayers, not baseballers. There is a game of golf that some golfers play all the time, and many golfers never play.

So my question for you is this: If a guy is out whacking at golf balls with golf clubs on a golf course on a Saturday afternoon, keeps extra balls in his pocket for re-hits, and drives his cart all over the fairway and through the woods picking up his lesser efforts on his way to hit is one decent shot and calls himself laying 2, is he playing golf? or is he golfing? And if he is not golfing, what is he doing?

Golf is one of those exceptions in the English language.   One plays golf.  Using the word as an unqualified verb just grates on my sense of language, and always will.  However, one can be a golfer, which makes it appear that one can "golf", but that just doesn't happen to be the case.  Don't try to measure it logically because it doesn't work.  I've seen the word "footballer" used instead of football player (usually referring to what we call a soccer player), and that grates as badly as saying "I golf" instead of I play golf.  I must have taken grammar seriously in school, so despite being an average student, most of it sunk in.  I can't diagram a sentence, but I can usually put one together in a fashion of which most English teachers would approve.

And I can guarantee you that I have never "gamed" anything in my life.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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As an insecure, high-handicap female golfer, I would never ask for changes in the game of golf.  I love the blasted game.

A confession:  I once feigned a fainting spell at a lesson when I kept topping the ball and I was sure I heard the Golf Pro groan (or laugh).  So no, I would not request that golf change for me.  I am not good but I am devoted.

Welcome to The Sand Trap. You will find a myriad of writers with different views on the game of golf. It will be refreshing to have a female's opinion on some of our topics.

I must admit that not having sons, women's opinions have a large part of my life. I was able to raise a daughter who had a single digit handicap and a love for the game. Once my wife saw how much we enjoyed playing golf together, she took lessons while in her 40's, and is now a certified golf nut. (Her ideal golf outing is 9 holes and dinner.)  And, like yourself, she is a 30+ handicap and quite devoted. However, I could never imagine her sharing golf stories and opinions on any website. So again, welcome.

I love this game! :-D

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I love this game! :-D

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Golf is one of those exceptions in the English language.   One plays golf.  Using the word as an unqualified verb just grates on my sense of language, and always will.  However, one can be a golfer, which makes it appear that one can "golf", but that just doesn't happen to be the case.  Don't try to measure it logically because it doesn't work.  I've seen the word "footballer" used instead of football player (usually referring to what we call a soccer player), and that grates as badly as saying "I golf" instead of I play golf.  I must have taken grammar seriously in school, so despite being an average student, most of it sunk in.  I can't diagram a sentence, but I can usually put one together in a fashion of which most English teachers would approve.

It's in both the Merriam-Webster and the Oxford dictionaries. It's not like I made it up.

Because there is no governing authority over the English language, it is and will always be constantly changing, based on how people use the language itself and what becomes acceptable or falls out of fashion. William Shakespeare would probably detest the way we use the language today, but it doesn't make us wrong.

And I can guarantee you that I have never "gamed" anything in my life.

And I believe you. That doesn't mean you can't "game" something; it just doesn't mean "to use (this particular club) in my bag."

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

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Note: This thread is 3316 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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