Funny International Golf Terms

For a little bit of fun, we thought we would enlighten you with some of the more humorous golf terms which are used at home and in other foreign languages!

Golf is a sport enjoyed by ladies and gentlemen across the world and with such an international sport inevitably comes a wide range of different golf terminology. We all know them in English, but here we hope to amuse you with some of the golf terms which are used on golf courses in countries such as France, Japan and Thailand!

But first, a few observations about the golf terms which we all use day in, day out. The origin of the word 'Caddie' is said to have come from the French term le cadet, meaning 'the youngest child', with Scots golfers then translating the word into Caddie. Meanwhile, the French term for 'Golf Bag' is Sac de Golf - which makes us wonder why the term 'bawsack' never caught on! Also, another quick observation, some of us will call a sliced shot a 'banana' quite happily - but have you never realised that a hooked shot is just a banana facing the other way?

In France, the direct translation for a backswing is montée - certainly not after Colin Montgomerie's backswing any way! The French also love to make things awkward; the terms for hook/slice are crochet de gauche/droite whilst a draw/fade is a léger crochet de gauche/droite. However, the term for handicap is handicap - how handy!

We are hearing through the grapevine that the Japanese are getting right into their golf these days and you can simply imagine the passion they show on the course using terms such as fukku for a draw, pronounced 'fukyu', whilst they have also made their political stance clear by calling a triple bogey a tori. No doubt about it, David Cameron would certainly be considered a Hanatakadaka on a Japanese golf course (we'll let you research that one yourself!).

Thai golfers such as Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are beginning to build the reputation of golf in Thailand and we love the simplicity of some of the terms used out there. A hole-in-one for example is a ho-lin-won, a driver is drai-wer and our favourite, a lay up is known as a waang!

To round off, here are some of our favourite nicknames for some golf terms in English. We are sure you can come up with some of your own!

A Margaret Thatcher - a little to the right.

An OJ - got away with one.

A Saddam Hussein - from one bunker into another.

If you happen to know of any other foreign golf terminology which is amusing, please add a comment below!