This morning I came across a gratifying tweet by Iona Stephen @iona_stephen: “ What do you miss most about golf?”I got a feeling that someone asked me how I was doing. It was trippy to read nearly 200 comments on her post. If someone wants to glimpse golfers’ minds, this tweet is a window.
One of the replies by David Close @davidclosey attracts me the most: “being able to swear really loudly.” Yes, golfers shoot unique glossary, wondering idioms, volumes of swears, and unmatchable shouts.
Who wouldn’t shout at a geometrically pure birdie putt and what part of the golfers body wouldn’t participate in the celebration of that jovial moment.
Golf is well known for its etiquette and decorum as well as its jargon and slangs. Among my favourites are: ‘air mail’ and ‘pheasant.’
Most golf acts are antonyms. If shouts are expressions of excitement, silence is an integral part of the game. If the tee-shot is hitting hard, putting is snail-like. So are expressions from ‘albatross’ to ‘dribbler.’
Another response to Iona’s tweet is by Jeff @tudtweets: “Baba Booey.” No one, including me; knows why this shout prevails at golf courses. It may be without meaning but it’s got a lot of substance. It feels good to yell ‘Baba Booey’ at a shot. Slang is often ranked below regular language. I would say it’s a folk expression. Slang is a ‘rap’ of formal dialect. It explodes intimacy, grows emotions and at times yields hatred and dislike. It expands heat and unveils secret sides of a person. I would like to say slang is language in naked. Mr. Eric Partridge, the lexicographer painstakingly explores the subject in his work.
No relationship is ever fulfilled without frank communication. No war was ever fought without patois. No theory gets comprehended at grassroots without street expressions. No round of golf is played without argot. Golf on, slang on, shout on, but be silent at the dance floor (green).
‘You dawn patrollin' pheasants out there at goat track make ‘emm barkies.’
Ahsan Jamil
Golfer, Author, Poet, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Wanderer.
Email: golfaij@gmail.com
Web: aijgolf.com
Credits:
Passionate writing...truth is so many words were addition to my poor vocabulary...there is a saying....fools rush in where angels fear to tread....caring least for the lexicographers....Baba Booey... seems hilarious...saying .... Black Sheep seen my command over land and air? To conclude I say.... The writing is a Baba Booey from a confined person golf is whose most recent love.