"GOLFING" - is it a word?

[DirtCheap]

Party is a noun...

[Alex B]

"Golf is a great sport. I like watching golf." (noun)

Excellent summary. Were you an English major?

The Oxford dictionary on my computer gives this usage note:

One may either play golf (the phrase dates from ca. 1575) or simply golf (ca. 1800)—that is, golf can be a verb as well as a noun. Most golfers use the older phrasing and say that they play golf ( I’ll be playing golf on Saturday), whereas nowadays nongolfers tend to be the ones who use golf as a verb ( she’ll be golfing on Saturday). In modern print sources, played golf is 20 times as common as golfed. Writers on golf often disparage the verb golf as symptomatic of linguistic dufferdom—e.g.: One writer states: “If you call yourself a golfer, you never use golf as a verb. You never say ‘We went golfing.’ Golf to a golfer is a noun. A guy tells you he ‘golfs,’ and you know he's clueless.” ( San Francisco Examiner; June 14, 1998.) If you’re serious about golf and writing, stick to the noun uses of golf. That will never get anyone teed off.

Nevertheless, the word "golf" can also be used informally as a word meaning, "to move an object, usually a ball, with a golf-like motion; to move a ball great distances." I couldn't find this usage of the word "golf" in any dictionary; however, "I really golfed that sucker" when referring to crushing a baseball out of the dirt is, in my opinion, a correct (albeit informal) usage of the verb.

[Guru]

I was interested in all the posts regarding the use of "golfing" as a noun.  I particularly found the post that improperly compared the use of the word "snowboarding" to that of the use of "golfing".   What that poster failed to distinguish was that the use of a "snowboard' is the activity of "snowboarding".  Snowboarding is not a game it is an activity using a snowboard. Golf is a game just like Chess is a game.  Chess players don't go "chessing"  they "play chess" or "play a game of chess."  The same is true as was pointed out about the games of baseball, football, basketball etc.., When one goes to the driving range one doesn't go to the "golfing range" to hit "golfing balls" you hit (or drive)  "golf balls".

Bowling is the name of a game. So one doesn't play bowl or go to the bowl alley - one "goes bowling" or one bowls his bowling ball at the bowling alley.  Conversely, one doesn't go to the golfing course .  Name one Golfing Club!  One doesn't go "skeeting" one "shoots skeet. Those who continue to use "golfing" as a noun only show their lack of knowledge about the game of golf to those who have a deeper understanding.  I have tried to educate all who use the term "golfing" in my presence.  I ask "do you like to play fish" (not the card game) or do you :"fish" or "go fishing."?  Fishing is also an activity not a game.  The license place holder should properly say "I'd rather be playing golf"!  Me too!

[Missouri Swede]

Golfing Union of Ireland

[Lihu]

As a person from the country that spawned the language, I have to say that this thread is giving me a headache so I’m going golfing

Well, I golfed this morning with three other golfers who enjoyed a round of golf every morning.

[Flav]

[URL]http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/12/golf.html[/URL] Pretty good article about it.

[Flav]

[URL]http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/golf[/URL] Also has golfing listed as a verb.

[Lihu]

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/12/golf.html

Pretty good article about it.

Nice article.
What's funny is I went from Archery to Golf, as did the ancient Scots despite the ban.

[Roblar]

I know someone who looks down on people who use golf as a verb in sentences like: "I like to golf."

"I like to play golf," he says.  "Golf is not a verb!"

And yet, he is happy to say something like, "He's a good golfer."

I have always found this funny.

"Golfer" comes from "golf" + "-er" and means something like "someone who plays golf".

English is confusing because lots of verbs and nouns look and sound the same: a dance (noun), to dance (verb), dancer (someone who dances)... and 'golf' might fit roughly in that category too.

If you look at the suffix "+er", though, you can see that it combines with verbs, not nouns to create a word that means something like "someone/something that VERBs". E.g. "employer", "thinker", "opener", ....

to employ  (verb)   employ + er = someone/something who employs people

to think (verb)   think + er = someone who thinks

to open (verb)  open + er = something that opens things

...and so on.

So, if we reverse engineer "golfer" meaning "someone who golfs", we see it comes from a verb, "golf" plus a suffix "-er".

...

So every time someone uses "golfer" they have just combined the verb "golf" with "er".  ...so I usually chuckle when someone tells me that "golf" is not a verb.  If they do, I just ask if they think "golfer" is a word, and then chuckle when they say, "Of course!"

[Slice of Life]

I'll one up you...me and my buddy refer to it as golfs. This weekend, I'm preparing for a nice round of Saturday morning golfs.

[RandallT]

I wonder what @Golfingdad thinks of this topic.

[Golfingdad]

I wonder what @Golfingdad thinks of this topic.

Well shit! Am I to understand that my screen name is not grammatically correct? Back to the drawing board!

[Slice of Life]

Well shit! Am I to understand that my screen name is not grammatically correct?

Back to the drawing board!

@Golfsdad

[Fourputt]

I play golf.  Others can do as they wish, but using "golf" as a verb will never sound right to me.

[Moppy]

Since there is no governing body of the English language. "Golfing" is a word because any native speaker of English knows what it means when they hear it. You may decline to use it in order to project a certain image, but you can't make it "not a word."   /rant over.

[yogolf]

I worked for Dove Canyon Country Club in 1986 and the first thing they told me was not to say golfing.  They said it's Play Golf.  They also told me it's not a hole, it's a cup, and it's not a sandtrap, it's a bunker.

My two cents, for what it is worth.

[Missouri Swede]

They also told me it's not a hole, it's a cup,

Rules of Golf define it as a hole, not a cup.

You're right about the sandtrap versus bunker terminology. (Although I've heard Arnold Palmer refer to it as a sandtrap, so if it's good enough for Arnie I won't disagree with him!)

Welcome to The SandTrap, by the way!

[acerimusdux]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roblar

I know someone who looks down on people who use golf as a verb in sentences like: "I like to golf."

"I like to play golf," he says.  "Golf is not a verb!"

And yet, he is happy to say something like, "He's a good golfer."

I have always found this funny.

"Golfer" comes from "golf" + "-er" and means something like "someone who plays golf".

Yes, I had this thought above when reading the rant which said:

Quote:

One writer states: “If you call yourself a golfer, you never use golf as a verb. You never say ‘We went golfing.’ Golf to a golfer is a noun.

I had a laugh at the inconsistency of that. As someone above points out, People who play chess don't say they are "chessing". And people who play cards don't say they are "carding". Likewise, I would point out, they don't call themselves "chessers", and "carders", they are "chess players" and "card players".

So I have no problem with those who insist that golf should not be used as a verb, if they want to say this earns them the right to call themselves "golf players".  But if you call yourself a golfer, I think you should call it golfing!