Go Golfing vs. Play Golf

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello.

Hi, who’s this?

This is Barb Anderson.

Hi, Barb. How you doing?

Well, thank you. How are you?

Super duper. Where are you calling from?

Scottsdale, Arizona.

All right.

Scottsdale. What’s happening in Scottsdale?

Well, I was going through Yuma on the way back from San Diego one day, and you guys suggested we call if we had any questions or issues that we had with the English language. And so I thought my big pet peeve is people who say, I’m going golfing.

Now, I, being a golfer, always thought you were supposed to say, I’m going to play golf, not I’m going golfing. I thought golf was a word that needed that helper bird to play, play golf. I mean, we don’t say we’re going footballing. We don’t say we’re going basketballing. But we do say we’re going bowling. So I don’t know.

I’ve debated it, and everybody says I’m crazy, but I think I’m right. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

Everybody says you’re crazy. What do your fellow golfers say?

It goes both ways. I mean, I hear some people say, yeah, you’re right. I say, I’m going to go play golf. And then other people say, no, I’m going to go golfing. And I’m like, ugh, it just graves on me.

That’s interesting. It never occurred to me as a non-golfer. I had no idea.

Now, this isn’t a fierce debate?

Well, I make it a debate. I take it upon myself to make it a debate.

Well, Barb, I find this so interesting because I have run into this question before because there are some people for whom saying going golfing is like running your fingernails down the blackboard.

That’s what it feels like.

Really?

Oh, yeah. So Barb is not alone in this.

Not at all. And for the reasons that she said. We don’t say I’m going canasta-ing or anything like that. And in fact, I did read an interview with a copy editor for Golf Digest magazine, and she said rarely, rarely, rarely do they use the term golfing in that magazine. She thought that it seemed, especially among older golfers—now, I’m not making any assumptions about you, Barb.

Well, you can. It’s okay.

Okay. How about more experienced golfers tend to say, play golf? And she was saying that it seems that a lot of the younger players tend to say golfing.

Well, Barb, if it makes you feel any better, I actually took my question to a woman who won the LPGA U.S. Open three times.

Wow. And her age would be?

I’m not sure what her age would be. It’s probably around mine. But I asked her about this because I was really curious. She said it just means that they’re interested in what you’re doing, but they’re not really part of the culture.

So I thought that was really…

Oh, I love that. Does that make sense to you?

Yes.

Yeah. So if you’re really on the inside track, then you say, I’m going to go play golf.

Right.

But if you’re a wannabe, you’re going golfing.

I think that that is how a lot of the more experienced golfers feel. And as I said, Golf Digest rarely uses that word. And so it’s interesting. It’s kind of the mark of…

I’ll tell you, this is definitely one of those things that I’ve never heard of. I’m interested in the fact that there might be a dispute here, and I think your culture explanation is right on the money, Martha.

I think there may be something to that. So I’m definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for more information about is it insiders only who say play golf and outsiders say golfing?

It’s interesting. I would love to hear from your fellow golfers, see what they have to say about it.

So thanks for bringing this up.

Thank you.

All right. Talk to you guys later.

Bye-bye.

Well, golfers do tell. Let’s find out. Give us a call at 1-877-929-9673. Send us an email to words@waywordradio.org or drop a message into our discussion forum at waywordradio.org/discussion.