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Coming from golf (with the sleeves of balls that cost about as much as a single disc, but which are lost FAR more frequently and tend to curve to the right for most righties a LOT more often! ), I'm discovering that a LOT of the terms in DG are just taken right from golf itself.
Sometimes these terms seem to be taken without any real consideration for what they are.
For example:
Tap-in - Shouldn't this be called a "flip-in" or a "drop-in" or something? You're not "tapping" anything in.
Fairway - Really? How about calling it the "Route" or the "Path" or something like that? Often it's indistinguishable from the surrounding area except that it's slightly less full of trees. You could say you're "off path" or "off route" rather than "off the fairway" or "in the rough."
Green - There's no clearly defined area as with golf. Why not call it "the Circle" since the rules call for a 10m circle?
Hole - There's no hole. Why do we call it the fifth hole? Why not the "fifth basket" or the "fifth route" or something?
Stroke - It's a throw. Even a "shot" is okay. No strokes.
Oddly, I'm okay with calling some discs "Drivers" and others "Putters." And I'm even more okay with calling others Mid-Range or "Approach" discs.
So my goal with this thread is not to bash DG one little bit. Not at all. I think the above is cute. I might not use those terms, but I don't have a problem with anyone who does.
I'm just surprised that some DGers didn't come up with their own terms, that they borrowed SO heavily from golf, even when the terms didn't necessarily make the most sense.
That said, too, lots of them are okay. Tee is fine, as is par. Penalty, out of bounds (not really used the same - internal OB is frowned upon in golf - but that's okay).
What terms can you think of that I might have forgotten that come from golf but might not make sense? What word(s) would you use instead?
P.S. I realize these terms probably aren't changing. I just find this "borrowing" of phrases curious.
The term "stroke" seems to be commonly used in penalty discussion, as in "he got stroked for a courtesy violation". Imagine the alternatives...
"he got thrown for a courtesy violation" -- sounds like a wrestling move
"he got shot for a courtesy violation" -- that seems like overkill
Green has no real bearing on disc golf. The circle is the official putting area defined by the rules. Green is a term that is only used casually (I hear "fast green" often), so I don't feel like arguing that one any more.
Now on to the word "putt". Do you know the history of this term in ball golf? My assumption is that "putt" was derived from "putting" which is actually the conjugation of the verb "to put". Instead of pronouncing it the same way, the pronunciation seems to have evolved and the word putt came out of it.
I think "put" is the best way to describe the disc golf putting motion. Particularly for push putters, it's not a full throw, and it definitely is not a lob. But the idea is that you're trying to put the disc in the basket, so the term putting seems to apply however you choose to pronounce it.
1743, in Scottish, special use of put (q.v.) in sense of "putting, pushing, shoving, thrusting" (c.1300); associated with the putting in shot putting. Putter "golf club used in putting" also is first attested 1743.
A Tackle is not allowed to tackle (except on turnovers)
Quarterback, fullback, halfback do line up as such usually
I guess we are in good company with the most popular sport in the country where things are borrowed from a related sport in which it is rooted....and where other things make no sense:
The use of the foot, is a minor part of the game
Rugby touches down for a touchdown
Scrimmage is borrowed from rugby's Scrummage
A Tackle is not allowed to tackle (except on turnovers)
Quarterback, fullback, halfback do line up as such usually