The Word "Golfing" is a Sin

[boogielicious]

The best thing about the English language is it constantly evolving.  English incorporates words and phrases from other languages.  Portmanteaus, idioms, non-sensical words all become part of the language if they fit and people understand the meaning. It is not a pure language in any sense.  Nouns become verbs!

The other best thing about the English language is you don't have to evolve with it and people can still understand you.

I recommend this book below that talks about the history of the English language.  It is funny and fascinating.  Bryson is an excellent writer too.  He does not mention golf though.

[turtleback]

But it obviously does mean that to some people, and that is my point.  Improper use of a word by a subset of the population shouldn't result in legitimizing that misuse.

No, that is EXACTLY how language evolves and develops.  Insisting that meanings remain static is like insisting that golf dress in one's own time is the only proper thing.  Like deriding people for wearing jeans and a tee shirt on the course while not living up to the dress standard of the Bobby Jones era.  But people like to pick and choose which artifacts of their experience are to be regarded as Universal Truths that are carved in stone.

And, as far as i have ever heard, only the TV pros, on USA television, 'work' the course.

'There's Johnnie, working the 12th hole, over the water....'

Not true.  In the restaurant business is it very common to say that someone is working the grill. or working the cold station, etc.

We need to remember that the purpose of language is COMMUNICATION, not maintaining some kind of linguistic purity that cannot and has not ever (even the french have failed at this) rendered a language used by actual living people static.  And it is not a way to make us feel superior to people who do not meet our personal "this instant in time" standards.  There is no more reason to insist that common errors from the 1890s that got incorporated into the language and are used every day and accepted by the dictionaries of today and are generally now considered "proper" while the errors of 2014, which are different only in the sense that they are not as "seasoned"as the 1890s errors, are wrong and bad and a sign of a declining civilization and the approach of the apocalypse.

[NJpatbee]

I am surprised that some on this forum assume that someone that uses the word golf as a verb is an uneducated part of the masses.  I know of more than one PhD from an Ivy League University that golfs.

[Golfingdad]

I am surprised that some on this forum assume that someone that uses the word golf as a verb is an uneducated part of the masses.  I know of more than one PhD from an Ivy League University that golfs.

I think, technically, only one person was rude enough to actually say that, but, regardless, I agree with you.

[Patch]

Very nice , well done post. The Lady deserves an award of some kind.

Just thinking that I play golf a lot in Vegas which is also known as "Sin City", next time I golf there would that make me a Sin Sin golfer?

[sjduffers]

Very nice , well done post. The Lady deserves an award of some kind.

Just thinking that I play golf a lot in Vegas which is also known as "Sin City", next time I golf there would that make me a Sin Sin golfer?

You mean a "Sin Sin person who plays golf?"  As surely one can't really be a golfer if "golf" is not also a verb?

[Rynrem]

The term Golfing irks me almost as bad as people miss-using the verb saw....ie: I seen a guy golfing the other day.

[dkolo]

The term Golfing irks me almost as bad as people miss-using the verb saw....ie: I seen a guy golfing the other day.

But surely that sentence with "saw" instead of seen wouldn't offend your sense of order.

[sjduffers]

The term Golfing irks me almost as bad as people miss-using the verb saw....ie: I seen a guy golfing the other day.

Yeah, I get it, but that's not a good example of miss-using the verb saw. "The magician sawed his assistant in half". That's a good example!

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rynrem

The term Golfing irks me almost as bad as people miss-using the verb saw....ie: I seen a guy golfing the other day.

Yeah, I get it, but that's not a good example of miss-using the verb saw. "The magician sawed his assistant in half". That's a good example!

Wouldn't it be more proper to say "The magician bisected his assistant."?

[Patch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patch

Very nice , well done post. The Lady deserves an award of some kind.

Just thinking that I play golf a lot in Vegas which is also known as "Sin City", next time I golf there would that make me a Sin Sin golfer?

You mean a "Sin Sin person who plays golf?"  As surely one can't really be a golfer if "golf" is not also a verb?

I'll just with a sinner who plays golf.

[LeftRightLeft]

Thanks for the english lesson Fourputt, but the context was the important part.  It was just the response of a teenager to his dad over forty years ago.  That's why the post made me laugh.  It brought back memories.

[caniac6]

Lately, I have been playing so poorly,I feel like I am sinning!

[rkim291968]

Very nice , well done post. The Lady deserves an award of some kind.

Just thinking that I play golf a lot in Vegas which is also known as "Sin City", next time I golf there would that make me a Sin Sin golfer?

... and your golf score stays there.

[WedgeHead]

It's a silly motivational book that was really popular 10 or 15 years ago that helps people deal with change.  You either adapt to the change (go search for cheese somewhere else) or complain about it (and sit there and starve, cheeseless, because that's where it used to be, it should still be here!!!)

The English language is over (or at least close to) ONE THOUSAND years old.  You are complaining at some drop-in-the-bucket changes that have occurred in the last 40 or 50 of those years.  Do you know how much the language changed in the first 950 or so years leading up to whenever you learned it?  Do you not see the irony in your complaints?

Unless ye doth feel that henceforth we shalleth speaketh whence we hailed from thou 10th century ...

I think perhaps you should recognize that today's dictionary is today's dictionary and nothing more, just like 1950's dictionary was simply 1950's dictionary and nothing more.

I completely agree. Some people here are getting worked up over nothing. They should use the word the way they see fit and let others use it the way they see fit. This thread is the very definition of 1st world problems.

[dkolo]

I completely agree. Some people here are getting worked up over nothing. They should use the word the way they see fit and let others use it the way they see fit. This thread is the very definition of 1st world problems.

I agree with you in principle that the central conceit of the original post is misguided, but every gripe related to golf is a first world problem. If it's being made on a golf forum, maybe let that complaint go?

[WedgeHead]

I agree with you in principle that the central conceit of the original post is misguided, but every gripe related to golf is a first world problem. If it's being made on a golf forum, maybe let that complaint go?

Fair enough. Maybe I should just ignore stuff that doesn't directly relate to golf as it's played. Did I use the word "golf" the right way? ;)

[dkolo]

Fair enough. Maybe I should just ignore stuff that doesn't directly relate to golf as it's played. Did I use the word "golf" the right way? ;)

I don't even know anymore, haha.