Hi, fellows! I'm a "seasoned" Japanese golfer living in Tokyo. I've been watching PGA, WGC and USGA events almost every week in the past 30+ years because I was fascinated with the beautiful and diversified courses in the U.S. and, of course, the power and technique of the world's top golfers. As the programs were bilingual, I chose English that I used in my business. So, I learned a lot of golf-related expressions which was an additional pleasure for me. In the beginning, though, little did I know that another unexpected "finding" was on the way around.
A few years after I started watching, I came to realize that there were considerable discrepancies between the golf terms I hear from the PGA programs and those that we use in Japan. In other words, misinterpretations and creations that don't really mean anything in English. I began to take note every time I found one, and in time, my scribble notes piled up (digitally).
As golf is an "imported" sport and there was nothing alike in Japan, we use a lot of golf terms in English. In short, there are two kinds of English terms in Japanese golf. No.1: Proper English terms learned from the British and American people who introduced golf in Japan, mainly regarding golf course and equipments. No.2: "Pseudo English" terms CREATED by Japanese golfers i.e. "Japanglish" (or "EngRish") golf terms. Issues of these "moonshine" golf terms are; "meaning different from English", "meaning opposite of English" and "incomprehensible coined phrases".
The problem is that we can't play golf without using these Japanglish golf terms. But the Japanese golfing world; golfers, industry, and media CANNOT tell good ones from bad ones. In other words, legitimate and Japanglish golf terms are equally considered to be "English" in Japan.
Junior golfers are "imprinted" with them even before they start learning English at school. Only when they grow up and travel overseas do they find that many golf terms which they have learned are of no use, if not trouble. A professional golfer who stayed in U.S. much more than 10 years once told me that he had to "rewrite his memory bank of golf terms" all over again.
The REAL problem is that this fact is virtually UNKNOWN, although hundreds of professionals and students have spent years in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries. It is kept in the dark, as if it is a stigma or an untouchable subject. This is why I decided to let this fact known to Japanese golfers before the Tokyo Olympics starts and wrote an e-book (Kindlebook↓) in March, 2021.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08ZKC99NS/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_BW89VEJWW7F57EK9E58B
Actually, this blog is an English version of my e-book with arrangements for English-speaking readers. In this blog. I would like to navigate you through the strange world of "golf Japanglish" and, whenever possible, explain how they were created i.e. the "Japanglish formula", so to speak. So, please join me and enjoy!
C O N T E N T S
Golf Japanglish No.1 Approach
Golf Japanglish No.2 Against (wind) and Follow (wind)
Golf Japanglish No.3 Keep the fairway
Golf Japanglish No.4 Two-on, Green-on
Golf Japanglish No.5 Par on
Golf Japanglish No.6 Cup-in
Golf Japanglish No.7 High score and Big score
Golf Japanglish No.8 Score up
Golf Japanglish No.9 Long hole and Short hole
Golf Japanglish No.10 Middle hole
Golf Japanglish No.11 Out and In
Golf Japanglish No.12 Single
Golf Japanglish No.13 Tee ground
Golf Japanglish No.14 Nice-on, Nice-in, Nice-out
Golf Japanglish No.15 Nice shot!
Golf Japanglish No.16 Half
Golf Japanglish No.17 One half
Golf Japanglish No.18 "Measure" title/champion
Golf Japanglish No.19 Just meet
Golf Japanglish No.20 Just touch
Golf Japanglish No.21 Meet percentage
Golf Japanglish No.22 Do you mean St. Andrews?
Golf Japanglish No.23 Hook line and Slice line
Golf Japanglish No.24 Titan
Golf Japanglish No.25 Do you mean "toe"?
Golf Japanglish No.26 Par-saving putt?
Golf Japanglish No.27 Half turn
Golf Japanglish No.28 Overdrive
"Approach" is in no doubt one of the most important and frequently used golf terms. Now, what would you say if this term is used in a different meaning in Japan than elsewhere? Sounds curious? Read more...
We use this word to mean "chipping" around the greens and NOT to mean the second shot of a par 4 hole. Over here, chips and pitches around the greens except bunker shots are always called "approach".
The photo of a practice green above shows just that (courtesy: Japan PGA Golf Club in Chiba). The Japanese line reads "Approach Prohibited". But the English sign says "no chipping". I was deeply impressed with this sign when I first visited this club and saw it. This sign alone makes the club deserve its name,"Japan PGA Golf Club". Congrats to the club management!
As a result, we never use "approach" for a shot from 150 yards out. So, while an excellent "approach" presents a birdie opportunity for you, we just have a chance for a par in Japan. Good grief!
I introduced the following website for readers of my e-book to make sure that I am not making up a bunk.
http://golf.about.com/cs/golfterms/g/bldef_approach.htm
Just like this, proper English and Japanglish COEXIST in Japan. In reality, most people cannot tell the difference and just think they are "ALL English". (This isn't only about golf, actually.)
We hear such expressions as "Approach and putt are the key to score-making" and "running approach". I told readers that correct English terms are "chipping and putting" and "chip and run". I also introduced "difficult little chip" as an expression often used in PGA tour programs.
APPROACH WEDGE
Misuse of "approach" is found in naming a kind of wedge, too. That is what's called "approach wedge" in Japan. You might joke "Oh, does this wedge carry a golfball 200 yards?" No way! It is actually what you call "gap wedge". For your information, it was first called a "P/S = pitching/sand" wedge (sitting between pitching and sand wedges), as some manufacturers still do.
Why does it happen?
You may wonder why the same English word is used in a different meaning in Japan. Actually, this is not a misinterpretation of English "approach". This is a case of coincidental mishap that occurred in the process of translating Japanese into English.
Chipping is called "YOSE" in Japanese which means "getting close". Long time ago, a golfer wanted to know what YOSE is in English. As he had no knowledge of the term "chipping", he consults a Japanese-English dictionary and finds "allowing (someone) to approach" for YOSE.
He thinks this is too long and tries to know the meaning of "approach" in an English-Japanese dictionary. What he found was "getting close to". This must have been his Eureka moment. So he tells everyone around him that English for YOSE is "approach". (Well, he was right if it wasn't for GOLF.)
He was probably a person of a considerably influential position and an extroverted personality. His "creation" was propagated all over Japan and became "default" in time. Unfortunately, there was no one who knew what "approach" meant IN GOLF. This situation still remains a reality.
Problems of Japanglish
When we use foreign words in Japanese sentences, we do not write them in alphabet. Instead, we replace alphabets with Japanese letters called KATA-KANA (pronounce: cut-a-cunner, British way) which ancient Japanese people created to mimic pronunciations. This is why and when disasters occur.
There are three major disasters:
- Misuse in wording (ignoring part of speech and grammar)
- Misuse in the meaning (from preconception)
- Confusing pronunciation (phonetical imperfection & deficiency)
PRONUNCIATION
The Japanese language is very poor in pronunciation. It has only FIVE vowels and much less consonants compared to English. KANA letters can represent less than a third of numerous phonetic sounds of English language. For example, it's well known that Japanese people pronounce "lice" for "rice". This is because we have only L-sound (like Hawaiian language) and both L and R are written with the same KANA. You would not believe that "Thorpe" and "soap" are written in KANA and pronounced exactly the same way, as shown below.
One more inexplicable situation is that, in Japan, this sound is spelled with "R" and never with "L". Why? Because the Government (the then Ministry of Education) DECIDED so when Japanese elementary schools commenced "Roman character lessons" in 1947. It means that that there is phonetical correlation between Japanese KANA and English.
Another problem with the Japanese language is that it has no independent consonant except N/Ng. All other consonants are combined with one of the five vowels. This means that there is NO WAY to write a consonant. I believe this attribute is idiosyncratic to Japanese.
This attribute causes a serious problem when Japanese people speak English. They have difficulty in pronouncing consonants without adding a vowel. Every KANA other than N/Ng automatically contains a vowel. For example, "strange" is a single syllable word, but its KANA version has five syllables. See below. (Poor Sandra!)
AGAINST
Golfers hate hitting into the wind for obvious reasons - losing distance and multiplying slice. In English, you say "hit into the wind". In Japan, golfers say "AGAINST". To be more specific, "Wind is "AGAINST", "AGAINST is strong", "10-meter (22.5 mph) AGAINST is blowing", etc. By the way, the pronunciation is "AGAINST-O" for the aforementioned reason.
In the first place, I should explain that we do not have "hit into the wind" type of expression in Japanese. Instead, we always discuss the wind. In other words, "AGAINST" is an equivalent of your "hurting wind".
Of course, we have a legitimate Japanese equivalent of "hurting wind", but no one uses it. Why? Strangely enough, Japanese golfers, regardless of professional or recreational, believe they MUST use English words in GOLF. I personally believe that this is the underlying reason why golf Japanglish prevails so widely and deeply.
Yet, you should still wonder why an English PREPOSITION is used as a noun or an adjective in Japan. This is THE most important point in understanding the nature of Japanglish, as a matter of fact.
The moment English words are written in KAKA, they become "Japanese" and the grammar (part of speech) of the original language is blown away. In most cases, they are treated as NOUNS.
For example, "shoot" (pronounced shoot-o) means "shot" in soccer and basketball in Japan and is used like "long shoot-o" and "dunk shoot-o". On the other hand, golfers often use "shot" (pronounced shotto) but never use "shoot" except for "age-shoot-o" (meaning age-shooting). This is disaster TWO.
But why was "against" chosen for "head wind"? Reason is simple. "Head wind" is written with two Chinese characters; one means "against" and the other, "wind". What other explanations would you need? Now you have found Japanglish formula No.1.
In my Japanese e-book, I told my readers that I had NEVER heard the word "against" regarding wind direction during my 30+ years of watching PGA tournaments. So, I advised readers to use Japanese instead of AGAINSTO which native speakers of English never use.
FOLLOW
Now, let me give you what we use for "hit with the wind" or "helping wind". Just like AGAINSTO, we use a Japanglish expression instead of genuine Japanese. That is "FOLLOW". "Follow" is English, but the way it is used as NOUN is entirely Japanglish, as described above.
Like the case of "against-o", we say "10-meter FOLLOW is blowing". Again, a verb in English becomes a noun (and an adjective, too). Good-bye to English grammar!
But this kind of translation is very common among Japanese people. Above photo is a good example. This is a typical mistranslation and the meaning is terrible, although the English line is grammatically correct. The Japanese line means, "No one but staff is allowed to touch". Someone translated the Japanese line "word by word" into English. Get the idea?
Regarding pronunciation, "follow" is pronounced "WHO-LAW" since most Japanese people can't pronounce "F" sound. And they pronounce "law" for "low". We spell "Mt. Fuji" but we actually pronounce "Huji". "Freeze" is pronounced "Huleezu". Food and hood are both pronounced "hood."
If you listen carefully, you'd hear Japanese golfers pronounce "WHERE-way" with whistling lips. Now, just guess how "golf" is pronounced. The answer is "GO-LU-WHO".
Now back to the "wind". What I advised my readers is that the correct English expressions are "hit with the wind" and "hit downwind", for example "hit 200 yards downwind". But as I said earlier, since we do not use "hit into or hit with" type of expression, this advice doesn't help.
So, I recommended readers to use the Japanese word for "tail wind". It's the only answer if you want to avoid using Japanglish. My additional tip was that tail wind is also called "helping wind" and they can also say "Wind is helping", in English.
Cross Wind?
While "head wind" and "tail wind" are used frequently in aviation but virtually never in golf, "cross wind" is used in golf, too. In Japan, however, Japanglish kicks in when cross wind is combined with either tail or head wind, e.g. "left-to-right AGAINST-O/WHOLLAW".
What about the grain?
In my experience with PGA programs, I have heard "against" only for putting and chipping, "against the grain". But the strange thing is that we never use "against" or "follow" for the grain in Japan, although we "describe the grain" just like the wind. Why? Because we use "against" and "follow" only for the wind. For the grain of grass, we use Japanese. So, Japanglish expressions mean one thing only. This is Japanglish formula No.2.
"Keep the fairway" is one of the most often heard expressions in Japanese golf programs. Sounds weird? But, what if "keep the fairway" means "hit (or find) the fairway" in Japan?
What is worse, "fairway-keep rate" is an OFFICIAL statistical term used by JGA and JPGA. What makes it even worse is that free translation services spell out "keep the fairway" if you input "keep fairway" in KATA-KANA.
Sometimes I hear a few commentators and professionals use Japanese expressions equivalent to "place the ball in the fairway". I believe these people intend to avoid using "keep". Yet they are only a tiny minority.
I made a suggestion in my e-book to use "hit the fairway" and "fairway hit rate". By replacing "keep" with "hit" our English gets correct. So simple!
I tried to figure out what made the creator of this phrase arrive at this expression. Obviously he did not know the proper English expression. So, he probably spent a lot of time trying to find the the English expression. And, one day, he came across a traffic rule term, "keep to the right." He thought it was THE answer, but he thought "keep to" was bothersome and omitted "to". This is my pure guess, but there's no other plausible explanation. Would you agree?
But there was one more thing he did not know - that "keep the fairway" means "maintain the fairway" which is a greenskeeper's job. The only time I heard "keep the fairway" in EngLish was when a Champions Tour player tapped on the grass a few times with his driver and the commentator JOKED about it.
What's common to this case and the case of "approach" is that the person who started to use these expressions NEVER checked if they were really correct, and no one else NEVER checked them either. This is the Japanglish formula No.3. But why did they not try to check the legitimacy?
The answer is clear. None one of those who created Japanglish golf terms had slightest INTENT to check if they were correct. Why? Because they wanted to create "jargons" to use among themselves. They didn't have to use English, but they knew English sounds "upscale".
Strangely, however, no one says "keep the green" to mean "hit the green". By now, you should know why. In Japanglish, "keep" is used ONLY for the fairway, and we have another Japanglish expression for the green (the following topic).
Japanese golfers often use such phrases as "two on" or "three on". Actually most of them pronounce TSUU-ON as there is no "two" sound, and SLEE-ON as there is no TH-sound in Japanese. But pronunciation is not my point.
"Two on" means "get(ting) on the green IN TWO (shots)" and "three on", in three. In this case "on" means "get(ting) ON the green". What a convenient trick! "You did TWO ON" in Japanese means "You got on (the green) in two."
I believe you are a bit confused with this "order of words". To help you understand, let me translate the Japanese sentence equivalent to "get on the green in two shots" word by word. It will be "TWO shots, in, the green, get ON". Yes, "English words in Japanese grammar" is the answer. This is Japanglish formula No.4.
But there's one thing that Japanese people aren't aware of. In English, "two on" means "two aboard" i.e. "There are TWO golfballs ON the green". I learned it from "two on, two out" - a frequently used phrase in the Major League baseball. Thus, you now know that when a Japanese golfer says "ON", it always means "get(ting) on the green" and NOT "is/are on the green". Here is another case of an English expression being used in different meaning in Japan, in addition to "approach".
GREEN ON
"Green on" is another favorite expression among Japanese golfers. As you can tell, this means "get(ting) on the green".
Now, let me give you the King of golf Japanglish! It's no one but "PAR ON" Esquire. Since there is no such English as "par on", you must have thought it is Japanese. But it isn't Japanese either.
Actually, this is one of the most often used golf terms in Japan and most Japanese golfers have no doubt that it is "English", because it is also one of the official statistical terms used by JGA and JPGA/JLPGA as "PAR ON percentage" just like "fairway keep rate".
In fact, "PAR ON" is the Japanglish equivalent to "green(s) in regulation" or GIR. Amazing, isn't it? But what kind of witchcraft was used to metamorphose "green(s) in regulation" into "PAR ON"? Obviously, it is no translation from English since "regulation" or any similar word is not used. I once heard Shigeki Maruyama use "green in regulation" (as it is) in a TV talk show, but other participants (instructors and caddies) did not understand it. They have no concept of "regulation". My explanation is as follows.
As a golfer, the creator of "par on" knew that a player needs to hit the green with a margin of two strokes for putting in order to safely par the hole. He figures it as "par-securing number of shots to get on the green". If I put this idea into Japanese context (grammar), it will be "PAR, to secure, green, get ON". This is exactly the same formula as described in the previous topic, "two on". It seems highly likely that the same person created these two "moonshine" expressions.
For your information, we use two Chinese characters for "breakfast". If I translated them, it would be "morning, meal". "PAR ON" is in no way different from this translation format (=Japanglish).
This is how "PAR ON", a magical substitute for GIR was born. Unfortunately, however, this magic spell works only in Japan. Tragedy is that we cannot play golf in Japan without using tons of Japanglish golf terms which are just garbage once we step outside Japan. Bad news for young golfers!
BOGEY ON
These days, people even say "bogey-on". You need no explanation, do you? This case shows that once a certain Japanglish expression settles, new phrases derive from it.
In my e-book I recommend using GIR instead of PAR ON and change the official term "PAR ON rate" to GIR or "greens hit rate". People may wonder at first what GIR is, but will accept it in time just like they accepted "OB" for "out of bounds".
Japanese golfers often say "CUP IN" (pronounced CUPPU-IN). This means, as you can guess, "go(ing) in the cup", i.e. "hole out" in English. Japanese people believe that it is proper English just like "chip in" is. And they don't believe me when I tell them it isn't. See the chart.
As I said before (in No.4), what happens in Japan is that whatever foreign word is "treated as noun", once it is spelled in KATA-KANA, regardless of the word's part of speech in the original language.
Let me give you another example. Japanese people say "healthy & beauty" instead of "health & beauty" simply because "they rhyme". They are not at all aware nor don't care that this is grammatically incorrect in English.
In ball games, score is counted in accordance with the rules of the game. In baseball, it's the number of RUNS, the number of GOALS in soccer, and the number of STROKES (plus penalty strokes) in golf. In most ballgames, a higher score wins the game, but golf is a game in which a LOWER score (less strokes) wins.
What is happening in Japan is that most people have different interpretation of "high" and "low". That is, "high score is good score and low score is bad score" like basketball. When Jumbo Ozaki won the Japan Open Golf in 1994 at 18 under par, the telecaster screamed "What a HIGH score!". 27 years later, Hideki Matsuyama's "65" on the third round of the 2021 Masters Tournament was reported by the Japanese telecaster to be his "career high" out of his ten entries.
A few years ago when I was reading a golf comic magazine, a tournament sponsor saw the weather forecast and murmured; "Well, I guess we'll see a lot of LOW scores tomorrow."
Why do these things happen? Well, Japanese people "pour emotions" in certain English words to use them as "new Japanese expressions". So, once English is spelled in KANA, it is 90 percent Japanese (i.e. in meaning) and only 10 per cent English (i.e. in sound). When spelled in KANA, "high" is always good and "low" is always bad. One serious problem is that they believe they are using English.
I told readers of my e-book that it was Jordan Spieth's second HIGHEST score when he shot "81" on the final round of the Genesis Open in 2019. I also told them this; If a foreigner asked your LOW score, you have to tell your BEST score ever. Consider why Hideki Matsuyama was awarded the LOW AMATEUR prize in the 2011 Masters Tournament.
I also told them that they can refer to a self-mocking website titled "10 ways to guarantee higher scores":
https://golf.com/instruction/10-ways-guarantee-higher-scores/
Big score
These days, "high score" is seldom heard on TV. Good news? Nope. It was merely replaced with a new golf Japanglish, "BIG score". What's even worse is that this is used by two younger ones of the tree Japanese MAJOR champions in person. Kids, cover your ears!
This is another case of pouring "big is good, small is poor" emotion to English. So, what I did in my e-book was introduce them the following website, "list of big scores". A number of big names have shot over 90 or even over 100. What I find interesting here is the exceptional treatment for Tiger because he was listed for shooting only 75.
http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~bvanderz/cs302/labs/lab3/bigscore
After introducing all these, I of course did not forget to remind my readers; "Now, do you still want to shoot a BIG score?"
There is an expression which has recently spread rapidly in the Japanese golf industry. That is "SCORE UP". It is a kind of "new kid in town" because nobody had heard or used it until a fitness-related business group started an entirely new golf instruction method in which a student gets instruction from one same coach throughout the course in a completely individualized teaching booth equipped with measuring devices and a large screen. The phrase is used as the main CATCH LINE for the advertising campaign, including television commercials.
I was caught by surprise when I first heard this commercial message on Golf Network (Japanese equivalent of Golf Channel) and thought, "Boy, who needs instructions to shoot higher scores?" But I've kind of become used to hearing this by now, since it's been on for nearly two years.
As I said before, Japanese people like to pour emotions in certain English words and UP is in no doubt one of them. They believe it connotes "improvement". One similar example of using "UP" in the same context is "skill UP". As you might have imagined, "score up" spread among golf instructors and gear manufacturers lightning fast. Big time!
I had to tell the readers that this is an entirely WRONG use of "up" because it is a word used to describe physical increase in "height, strength, number or volume/amount." Since golf score is a number (of strokes), "score up" means "more strokes". I even had to ask them a dum question, "Is infection rate UP an improvement?"
Since my aim is to give Japanese readers proper English words and phrases to substitute Japanglish golf terms, I recommended them to use "(shoot) low scores". When I wrote this line, I recalled Micheal Breed saying "lower score" over and over again in his TV show "Golf Fix" which was aired in Japan in 2016.
Coincidentally, I was watching TV in Maui, Hawaii, when Hideki Matsuyama was creeping up the leaderboard in the final round of the 2017 U.S. Open Championship and eventually finished 2nd. It was then when I heard the telecaster say "Winds up, SCORES UP" loud and clear.
Japanese golfers call a par5 hole a "long hole" (in English). Most people even omit "hole" and just say "long". Not only amateurs, pros do, too (I suspect that pros first began this). What's WRONG about it? Well, they mean "par five" by "long". So, any par5 is a "long hole", even it measures only 480 yards.
Furthermore, Japanese golfers call a par3 hole a "short hole" (in English). In this case, too, most golfers omit "hole". So, a 245-yard par three hole is a "short hole" in Japan.
Of course we have Japanese words, NAGAI (=long, pronounce like Hawaii) and MIJIKAI (=short, pronounce mee-jee-kye) which we use very often. In other words, when Japanese golfers say "long" and "short" in English, they mean nothing else but "par5 hole" and "par3 hole". Get the point?
So, what I explained to my readers was that both "LONG" and "SHORT" in English are "descriptions of relative length" and not "definitions of par". For example a 600-yard par5, a 500-yard par4 and a 250-yard par3 holes are all "LONG" holes, and a 510 yard par5, a 310-yard par4 and a 110-yard par 3 holes are all "SHORT" holes in English. So one can't use "long" and "short" to mean the number of strokes for par.
What's more unbelievable is the fact that if you input "MIJKAI long hole" and "NAGAI short hole" to free translation websites in Japanese (←using only KANA, no alphabets), you literally get "SHORT LONG HOLE" and "LONG SHORT HOLE". I confirmed this with at least three different web services (as of April, 2021). What in the hell are these translations?
As we have Japanglish ways of calling par5 and par3, we of course call par4 the Japanglish way, too. That is "MIDDLE HOLE." Here's what I said to my readers. "I mentioned that there are problems with 'long hole' and 'short hole' but 'middle hole' has a different problem. That is, there is no such thing as 'middle hole' in a golf course. I've been watching PGA programs for 30+ years and have NEVER heard 'middle hole'. This one is another creation by some Japanese golfer".
This is a case of misinterpretation of English. In Japanese, both middle (= in between) and medium (= average) are written in the same Chinese character. As par4 holes have "medium" lengths, someone (probably the one who started to use "long hole" and "short hole") started to call a par4 holes "a middle hole". So, I explained that this is a wrong way of using "middle" because "middle" refers to a location or position but not the degree or extent in measurement.
I also added; Even assuming that there IS a middle hole in a golf course, it would be the one "located in the middle of the course" i.e. 9th or 10th hole. Hole 1 or 18 can never be a "middle hole".
Dear readers of this blog, there is one good news! These days, most golf casters and "regular" commentators do not use "long, middle and short holes" and say "par5, par4 and par3", although "guest commentators" (veteran pros) still do. There has been an evident improvement as far as this point is concerned.
I wish that the same change will happen to all the Japanglish golf terms, including many more that are not listed in my e-book.
This is a very common sign in Japanese golf courses. Virtually every Japanese golf course has this sign or the same written in KANA.
Usually, you see this kind of sign around a supermarket's parking lot. "In" means entrance and "out", exit. So, if you see an "exit" sign right after you step out of the clubhouse, you might feel as if you are being told to "go OUT" just like in a movie scene. You might wonder what kind of joke this can be.
In reality, it's simply because the first nine holes are called "OUT" and the second nine holes are called "IN" in Japan. These are NOUNS in Japanese context and used like "OUT is 3,400 yards and IN is 3,500 yards". " OUT and IN are always nouns.
I explained to my readers that such a practice is found "only in Japan" and nowhere else in the world. Therefore, a sign like above can only mean "enter" and "exit" of a parking lot and are confusing to foreigners.
Long time ago, a golf-knowledgable, one of the very few in those days, told people (verbally or in writing): "In Scotland where golf originated, they say 'going OUT' for playing first nine holes, and 'coming IN' for second nine holes". As Japanese people dislike long phrases, they compressed them to a few KANA letters, OUT and IN. Thus, "compressing to one or two words" is Japanglish formula No.5.
I, of course, introduced the proper English for "OUT" and "IN", i.e. "front nine" and "back nine" and made a suggestion of a new "world standard sign board", as below. In addition, I added that "front nine" and "back nine" will sound much smarter and more stylish than OUT and IN.
OUT COURSE/IN COURSE
Since front nine and back nine are called OUT and IN in Japan, people figure out various derivatives such as "IN course" and "OUT course". Two points are wrong. Calling front and back nine holes "out" and "in" and calling nine holes a "course". You will find other problems, too. "OUT course" sounds like "out of course" and "IN course" sounds like "in the course". But nobody thinks that far, over here. Our brains are not wired to "think in English" in the first place.
OUT START/IN START
Another type of derivatives are "OUT START" and "IN START". In Japan, two-way start is common and only a handful of golf courses practice one-way start. So, when we book a tee time we also pick or get "OUT" or "IN".
Since we are so accustomed to "OUT START" and "IN START" we never say "You're starting at Hole 1 (or 10)" in Japan. But I told my readers that they have to use the hole number instead of "OUT" and "IN" to foreigners or outside Japan.
For your information, some pro golfers mock themselves that they're playing on the "backstreet" when they are starting at Hole 10.
In Japan, a golfer of 9 or lower handicap is called "Mr. or Ms. Single" and get a lot of respect. But as Japanese people cannot pronounce "si" (as in silk), they pronounce "SHINGLE". Well, I must tell you that this "SHINGLE" has several problems.
You use the actual number such as "8handicap" but Japanese people divide "single digit handicapper" and "all others" like aristocrats and commons. However, it seems that the basic idea is the same as an American website reads; "In most cases, a low golf handicap is one that is a single digit".
I also told my readers that they cannot say "single" (even if pronounced right) because the word does not mean "single-digit" but "not married". So, the meaning of "single" is entirely different between Japan and other countries.
Further, there is an English word which is pronounced "shingle" and it means a certain kind of roof tile. What kind of golfer is a "roof tile golfer?"
"Single" is not the only case. In Japan, "si" is always pronounced "shi". So "seat" is pronounced "sheet" and "Vitamin C" is pronounced "Vitamin She".
The last thing I told my readers is that "single golfer" IS a "proper English expression". However, the meaning is completely different than single-digit handicapper. It means a "golfer who is playing by him(her)self."
Until quite recently in Japan, we used to say "tee ground". But at one time, a TV network suddenly started to say "teeing ground". Until this happened I did not know that "tee ground" was Japanglish and this is the only time I learned proper English from a Japanese network. Other networks followed suit up until the 2019 rules amendment when the term was changed again to "teeing area".
Why didn't I know that "tee ground" was Japanglish until the said network changed it? The reason is simple. I had never heard "teeing ground" on PGA programs. They always say just "tee". (Well, I heard "teeing ground" just once and it was after the rules amendment.)
American telecasters still continue to use "tee" such as "18th tee" after "teeing ground" was replaced with "teeing area" by the amendment. On the other hand, Japanese media comply immediately to this kind of "official issue".
But I can understand why you don't use "teeing area" in English in the U.S. It takes three or four time longer to pronounce "teeing area" than to say just "tee". This makes so much difference for broadcasters who are racing with time.
So, I made a recommendation to use "tee" in Japan, too, instead of the longish and tongue-tying "teeing area". I personally doubt, however, if this will happen. You might wonder why Japanese people who LOVE to abbreviate English expressions would not do it in THIS case. The reason is that "tee" is used only for "tee peg" in Japan. English words (in KANA) are used in "one meaning only" in Japan. For example, "engine" means internal combustion engine only, and "motor" means electrical motor only.
In Japan, golfers are supposed to "praise" other players' shots and putts, unless they are misses. If you keep silent, you'd be considered a rude person. And, further, you are supposed to use "nice" when you do. So, "NICE something" is heard all over Japanese golf courses all day long. Well, though it's not a bad thing at all, there's one problem.
"Nice" is used often when it is incorrect to use it, such as "NICE ON, NICE IN and NICE OUT". As I said before, English words become "nouns" in the Japanese context. "NICE OUT" means you have successfully "gotten out" of trees or a bunker. "NICE ON" means you have successfully "gotten on the green" and "NICE IN", you have successfully "holed out".
In English, all these cases can be replaced with "nicely". Honestly, it is doubtful if Japanese golfers will use "nicely", but I did tell them that "nice" is not always correct, anyway.
Among all English and Japanglish golf-related expressions, "NICE SHOT" (pronounced NAISU SHOTT-O) is by far the most frequently used phrase in Japan for the reason mentioned in the previous topic. An average golfer will voice/shout it at least a 150 times if he/she plays 18 holes with three other golfers.
But that's not the only thing special about "nice shot" in Japan. Strangely enough, there are quite a few people who believe that "nice shot" is Japanglish. This story is known even among those who do not play golf. The editor of my first book (published in 2000) told me that he had heard the same thing from a world-famous Japanese golfer in person. It's hard to believe it at once, isn't it?.
Not so long ago, a book was published in Japan which goes; "Nice shot in Japan, good ball in America". (I've never heard "good ball" in 30+ years.) Some people even brag; "Nice shot is used when a shot ACCIDENTALLY brought about a good result", and so forth. I believe that all these stories bounce around and contribute to building up a common belief that "nice shot" is Japanglish.
What I said to my readers is simple. "Please, listen to a PGA program in English just for once. Telecasters and commentators, including Sir Nick Faldo and Justin Leonard (who replaced Johnny Miller), are repeating "nice shot" and "very nice" along with "good shot", "beauty" and so on. I've heard Jack Nicklaus say "It's a nice shot." for Martin Kaymer. Are all those shots "ACCIDENTALLY successful"? Give me a break!
To close on this topic, I quoted the answer to my question from a Japanese friend who lives in LA and has played with local golfers for more than 30 years. Here's what he said; "I can't remember how many times I heard 'Oh, what a NICE shot'. But more importantly, I've never heard that story from anyone but Japanese". "Case closed"?
In my opinion, the problem about the use of "nice shot" in Japan lies elsewhere. That is, Japanese golfers use nothing else but NICE SHOT all day long. It seems that Japanese golfers, pros and recreational golfers all combined, are somehow under a pressure that they HAVE TO use English words on a golf course. Since most of them have little glossary of English, they can't help use the only one phrase they know, "nice shot".
So, Japanese golfers must get rid of this strange "spell". There are other English phrases as "good shot, great shot, beauty, well struck, heck of a shot, here you go" and so on. Never heard of them? Then, use Japanese.
As mentioned earlier, most Japanese golf courses practice two-way start. So, 9th is next to the clubhouse. That's OK, but what if you have to wait 45 to 75 minutes after the turn? Why it happens? Because many other players are still waiting for their start before you. It means we have long "half time" with nothing else to do but HAVE LUNCH.
Japan is smaller than the state of California and inhabitable (flat) areas account for only 30 per cent. Thus, the majority of golf courses are located in hilly or even mountainous areas. That means huge construction cost and high maintenance cost. To collect investment and keep operation rolling, they need to admit players to the limit.
Now, let's get back to the point. Because we have to suspend playing after nine holes, golfers came to consider golf on the basis of "half round" rather than 18 holes. Early golfers started to call the half round "HALF".
Most common topic among Japanese golfers is the score for "half". This is even touched upon in Harvey Penick's "Red Book". A beginner's wish is to break 50 first of all. Years later, he or she may be able to brag about breaking 40. This is not a bad idea because breaking 80 in a round is much, much more difficult for recreational golfers.
The problem is that "half" does not mean "nine holes" outside Japan. It used to mean "even score for a hole in a match play" until it was changed to "tie" in the 2019 rules amendment. Japanese golfers are not familiar with expressions used in the matchplay format, since it is a format that recreational golfers never experience for life. So, my advice to my readers was to always keep this point in mind.
In Japan, golf courses are far out and we have to drive easily an hour and a half or even longer just to get to the course if you live in a large city, especially Tokyo. It means that playing golf is a full day business and traveling expense (toll and gas) is not negligible. Yes, playing golf is a big event. So, golfers often want to play additional nine holes. Many courses have 27 holes to satisfy these demands.
In Japan, golfers say "ONE HALF" (in English) to mean "one and a half rounds." This is a typical example of "treating English words as Japanese" because in Japan, "ONE, HALF" always means "one and a half". Japanese people don't understand that "one half" is "half" (=one of two halves) in English.
This is another problem which stems from using "half" for nine holes. So, I suggested to Japanese readers; It's time to stop using "half" for nine holes and let's say "What about another 9 holes?" if you want to solicit extending play.
When translating English, most words are translated to Japanese but some words are left untranslated and written in KANA. This happens so often in Japan these days as if media have abandoned translation. In that case, translator or someone applies appropriate set of KANAs to mimic the English pronunciation. And, as mentioned before, sounds that do not exist in Japanese are substituted with similar Japanese sounds. However, Japanese media kind of "cheat" in this process.
They omit certain sounds for certain words although we CAN pronounce them. One most obvious case is shortening "A (double vowel)" to "E (short vowel)". For example, baby is "bebby", lady is "leddy" and waist pouch is "west porch". I'm not saying some people sometime do this. Everybody does it every time. I tell you what. These are what Japanese children get automatically imprinted with.
In golf terms, "MAJOR" is written as "MEASURE" in KANA. Actually, this error has been transferred from Japanese baseball media. "Major League Baseball" is called "measure league baseball" in Japan.
Thus, "major championship" is pronounced "measure championship". What kind of championship is a "measure championship"? Doesn't it sound like a championship in some kind of "measurements"? Oops!
Most Japanese people don't know the reality that "measure" is NOT understood as "major" in the States. Maybe the difference in pronunciation between "-jor" and "-sure" is No.2 cause. There was a major league baseball commentator called Pancho (nickname) Itoh. He WAS the only person to say "major" on TV. No one does now.
Let me tell you how Japanese media are generally ignorant about real English in terms of pronunciation. You'd be lost for words! In Japan, bureaucrats who are eligible for high positions in the government offices are classified as "career class". Problem is the pronunciation of "career" .
In Japan. Career is pronounced "CARRIER" without exception. If I pronounced "career" correctly when speaking in Japanese, they'd understand I'm talking about "Korea". But you know what "carrier" means in case of humans. A "carrier diplomat"? Carries Covid-19 or Ebola? Give me a vaccine!
All these cases of extremely embarrassing ignorance have been left untouched for nearly a 100 years. Educational world raises no voice at all. Is Japan a really "highly educated" country? I seriously doubt it, at least in the area of English.
"Just meet" (pronounced JUST-oh MEET-oh) - what do you think it means? To me, it sounds like "just meat". This is actually another transfer from Japanese baseball and means "solid contact". Can you believe me?
People like the creators of "keep the fairway" or "par on" are everywhere churning out Japanglish words and phrases day in and day out. In this case, someone wanted an English expression for a "good contact" of bat and ball. But this guy did not know "contact". Only English he could think of was "meet" because we actually say "bat meets ball" in Japanese. This is error No.1.
As explained before, Japanese people put only one meaning to an English word. "Just" is a typical case. It means "exact(ly)" only. Thus, the creator forged out "just meet" and claimed that it meant "square contact." This is error No.2.
So, I advised my readers to use "contact" instead of "meet" and "just" should be "solid" or "square" instead. However, the best thing Japanese golfers should do is to use the Japanese expression both for baseball and golf. The expression is; "Hit the ball with the core of the bat/clubface."
The advent of radar-equipped analyzing devices (missile tracers) that measure club speed, ball speed, spin rate, attack angle, launch angle, carry distance, etc. have completely altered not only methods of training but club-design and ball design in both structure and material. With just one swing of a club, your golf capabilities are exposed in broad daylight. Oh, my goodness!
This fact tells us that a large part of golf is physics, as was proven by Mr. DeChambeau. When I translated brochures of golf clubs, I was actually struggling with terms of physics.
Among numerous parameters measured is "smash factor". To be strict, it is not a straight measurement but a quotient (ball speed divided by club speed). The best smash factor figure we can achieve is said to be slightly over 1.50.
Now, what's the problem about it? Well, we call it "MEET percentage" (MEETO LITSU in Japanese). Here's "meet" again. But the funny thing is that a lot of commentators, instructors, magazines and brochures say or write both of these two expressions together. This is because the equipment shows "smash factor" which golfers don't understand.
This fact appears to be one minor incident, but I believe it symbolizes the situation in which Japanese golfing world is facing. We cannot catch up with the latest trends in the world unless we learn PROPER English golf terms.
At present, however, young Japanese golfers, ambitious to venture abroad are facing a serious problem which they are not even aware of; many golf terms they learn first of all are of no use outside Japan and they will have to learn new terms again, such as "chip/chipping for APPLAUCHEE", "in two for TWO-ON", "GIR for PAR-ON", etc. etc. Oh, what a waste!
In Japan, putting speed that advances the ball "exactly" to the hole is called "just touch". It is equivalent to your "dying speed", and is a relatively new expression, first used by a famed veteran professional ten years or so ago (most probably his creation.). Since "just" matches Japanese people's preference, it didn't take long to propagate. (To me it sounds like "Just touch, don't hit...)
I told my readers that the word "just" is not what we usually understand because telecasters in the U. S. use "ju----st", when a putt slips away from the cup or stops looking into the cup. The usage is opposite between Japan (successful) and the U.S. (unsuccessful). It's obvious which is wrong.
I told my readers to use "dying speed". I also introduced a popular phrase and its opposite, "die in the hole" and "Fowler never dies in the hole."
Needless to say, St. Andrews is THE "home of golf." In due respect, I would like to talk about its pronunciation this time, because the way Japanese people pronounce "St. Andrews" is so peculiar, even embarrassing.
This pronunciation contains three mistakes.
One: "Saint" is written and pronounced "sento" just like "measure (major), bebby (baby), leddy (lady) and west (waist)". Why it's not "sent" but "sento" is explained in Topic2 (against-o).
Two: "Andrews" is written and pronounced "ANDOLYUUSU". Japanese people read "Andrew" as "ANDOLYUU". You now know why "And" becomes "Ando" and why Japanese people pronounce "L" for "R". But why "YUU" for "ew"?
Every single English-Japanese dictionary says "Andrew" is pronounced "ANDRU:=androo", period. Yet, long time ago, some translator wrote "ANDOLYUU" in KANA for "Andrew" in a book or newspaper, and it was copied by everyone else. This fact shows that there are numerous "translators" who put English into KANA without even seeing a dictionary. I believe that they think "pronunciation is out of their job obligation". (It's their weakness, actually.)
For worse, this mistake was repeated in other words containing "rew". "Brew, Drew and screw" are all pronounced "LYUU", including Drew Barrymore and Minnesota Brewers, but only of "crew" was somehow spared. There is no awareness in Japan that it is phonetically impossible to "pronounce U after English R". At one time, I tried to understand why Americans cannot pronounce RYO Ishikawa, and found that I could't either. (You should call him Lyo Ishikawa, instead.)
Three: The last sound is not "S" but "Z". Japanese people also pronounce and write YankeeSu and DodgerSu.
All in all, the way "St. Andrews" is pronounced in Japan can be represented in the following six Chinese characters as the chart below. (Note: This is not Chinese pronunciations of these characters.) What I mean is that it doesn't sound like English at all.
For your information, I would like to add that one newspaper and a few individuals use "Sento Andoloozu" at present.
AUgusta
Congratulations, Hideki! Now is the right time to discuss the pronunciation of Augusta National. Compared to St. Andrews, "Augusta" is much easier to pronounce. Japanese people can pronounce it perfectly and, actually, we used to do so. Strangely, however, someone started to put the stress (we call it "accent-o" in Japan) on "AU" and pronounce "AUgusta" about five years ago or so. (Maybe, they thought it was August+a?)
Then it started to spread mainly among media people (sportscasters) and younger (under 40 or so) pro golfers. It looks like they don't have a speck of doubt that "AUgusta" is English and "AuGUsta" is Japanglish. Now, Tommy Nakajima is the only person who pronounces "AuGUsta" on TV.
This fact shows that these sportscasters and younger pro golfers really have no or very few occasions to hear "real English" either in person or on TV. No wonder why Japanglish prevails!
In Japan, green's contour which causes right-to-left break is called "hook line" and the opposite, "slice line". I believe this is a wrong use of words, since hook and slice are phenomena which the sidespin of a golfball causes to generate.
You may not agree with me, since some American telecasters and famous commentators use them on TV. But I believe what happens on the putting surface should be distinguished from what happens in the air. So, I wrote that "slice line" should be called "left-to-right break" and "hook line", "right-to-left break".
SNAKE LINE
For your information, we have an interesting expression for a double-breaking putt, "SNAKE LINE". I know this is not proper English. But I kind of feel like recommending it to you, because you say "A creek snakes around the green." Or, should it rater be "snaking putt/line"?
POTATOCHIP GREEN
Have you ever heard "CHITAN"? Actually this is how we call "titanium" in Japan, but it is not Japanese. How "titanium" became "chitan" is a long story.
In Japan, titanium is pronounced "CHITA-NYUUMU" for two reasons. No.1: Japanese language does not have "ti" sound, so that "ti/tee" were substituted with "chi/chee" in the old days. "Team" is still pronounced "cheemu". No.2: Metals spelled with "-ium" like magnesium and uranium are pronounced as "XX-yuumu", like "MAGUNESHUUMU" and "ULANYUUMU" since they are so spelled in KANA.
But someone thought "chitanyuumu" is still too long, cut "-ium" and called it "chitan" which in time spread nationwide as we do now. This story is already very strange, but something even stranger happened later.
TITAN
"Titan" is the name of the largest satellite of Saturn. It's the second largest satellite in the solar system and is actually larger than Mercury and Pluto. But someone who saw this spelling read it "chitan" (as "ti" is so pronounced) and thought; "Oh, this must be the English spelling of chitan."
This person is no exception to those creators of Japanglish golf terms. He did not check the dictionary. If he had done so, he would have easily found that Titan is not titanium. By now, fellow readers, you must have obtained the overall profile of the Japanglish golf terms creators.
So, If you find a driver or a fairway metal with "TITAN" printed on the clubhead, I assure you that it is a Japanese brand.
Generally speaking, Japanglish golf terms are seldom found for equipment and course. Necessary terminology was duly transferred together with equipment and course specifications. So, as you can see in this blog, Japanglish terms are mostly related to "playing".
Just recently, however, even equipment terms began to be infected with the Japanglish virus. To be specific, that is the pronunciation of "toe." I could not believe my ears when I first heard an instructor suddenly said "TWO" pointing at the toe. On top of that, this guy appeared so confident about this "new" way of pronouncing "toe".
Shortly after, I began to hear "TWO" on TV mainly from golf club engineers introducing new irons. I was more surprised when I found it in the club description from a top-ranking club manufacture's website. It was heard even from a president of a club manufacturer. How rapid the infection!
I said in my e-book that there are only three English words that are pronounced "TUU (in Japanese KANA)", "TWO, TOO and TO". "Toe" is NOT one of them. It is pronounced "TO-U (in KANA)."
It took me no time to understand why it happened, though. This is not a case of mispronouncing "toe" in nature. It is a miswriting of "toe" in KANA. "Toe" should be written in KANA as in the upper line of the chart below, but SOMEONE wrote it as in the lower line.
The reason why TI and TU are written with two KANAs (big one + small one) is because "ti" and "tu" sounds did not exist in Japanese and these KANAs were later added to write foreign words in KANA. Small KANA should never be used for "toe".
Why does this kind of ridiculous mistake spread so easily? The only explanation I can think of is that it's because an outstanding majority of Japanese people learn English pronunciation in KANA even though they learn the alphabet spelling. As you might know, many Japanese singers learn pronunciation this way when they cover songs in English.
TWO DOWN?
One mistake leads to another. In this case, it's pronouncing "two down" for "toe down". "Two down" means "two holes behind" in matchplay and "two strokes behind" in stroke play in golf and, of course, "two out" in baseball. You're "two down" the moment you make a downswing? How strange!
I am personally interested how these people call the "toe shoes" for ballet. Will they call them "TWO shoes"? Anyway, the only hope I have is that "TWO" (which is still new) will stop spreading before it gets out of hand.
One expression which is used more often in Japanese golf programs than in PGA programs is "par saving". However, I'm not saying that Japanese pro golfers miss the green more often than American golfers do. I'm talking "wording".
It's quite OK for sportscasters to use sophisticated expressions such as "par save" and "par-saving putt". But they have to be used correctly. What I mean is that there is a "condition" for using "par save", just like "Champagne" or "Parmigiano-Reggiano".
In the case of golf, "par save" can be used only when a player misses the green. A second putt can never be a "par-saving putt". Unfortunately in Japan, too many golf-casters use "save" for two-putt pars. (Well, I've heard American golf casters do the same a few times.)
What is worse about the misuse of "save" is the case when commentators say; "This par3 hole is very hard. So, players must concentrate on SAVING PAR, rather than going for a birdie." What an impolite comment!
My inner voice; Please, compete in using "correct expressions" instead of competing in the "number of English words" you know.
Not many years have passed since I first heard "half turn" in a Japanese golf program. This is the Japanese version of "turn". This example shows how deeply the concept of "half=nine holes" is rooted in the minds of Japanese golfers.
Until not so long ago, we used to use a Japanese expression for "turn". Someone learned that they use "turn" in English. But since this expression was "new", he thought of adding "half" before "turn" so that Japanese viewers would not be confused. He was right. "Half turn" was soon accepted by media and pro golfers.
Similar case apart from golf is "mug cup". Thus, by now you have fully understood how Japanglish is made i.e. how Japanese people make new expressions out of foreign languages.
What I advised my readers was that "half turn" is an expression for a "180-degree turn" and is not a golf term, so that hey should use just "turn", for example, "make the turn" and "turn the 9th".
In Japan, "overdrive" is completely misused. "Overdrive" is never used in its proper meaning but is used to mean "outdrive". In other words, we never use "outdrive".
I explained to my readers that English words beginning with "over" bear negative meanings in general, such as "overweight, oversleep and overspeed". In golf, "overdrive" is used when a drive runs through the fairway or even goes in the trees. My advice is to use "outdrive" or Japanese expression for "drive longer."
When Isao Aoki was a newcomer in USPGA tournaments, his name used to be pronounced "I-say-oh Aye-oh-key". I have heard this pronunciation a few times on TV for myself. Well, I'm not complaining about it at all. It is the most probable way of reading the spelling when you don't know how Japanese names are spelled in alphabet. For example, INOUE must be difficult for you as is Marylin Monroe for Japanese. (It's close to "ee-no-way".)
By the time he fought a duel with Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 U.S. Open and became the first Japanese winner of a PGA tournament (1983 Hawaiian Open), however, the pronunciation had been corrected to how he is called in Japan. Nobody calls him "I-say-oh Aye-oh-key" now.
We have the same issue here. Sometimes there are names we don't know how to pronounce. But the difference is that, in Japan, once a name is introduced publicly, it will not be changed. Whether one wins The Open or U.S. Open or how popular he/she is in Japan doesn't matter.
Followings are examples of the names pronounced incorrectly:
- Gary Player is called "gay-lee". Reason is simple. Long time ago, "Gary Cooper" was introduced as "gay-lee cooper" by the movie distributor and it was imprinted among Japanese people. Today, every "Gary" is called "gay-lee". Gary Woodland is no exception.
- Jack Nicklaus is called "nick-louce". This is how St. Nicklaus of Germany is pronounced. Japanese people somehow like to retain German pronunciation. But recently some media changed it to "nicklas".
- Watson is pronounced "wa-to-son". This pronunciation was also imprinted thanks to Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes stories. As you can see in the chart below, there is no way but to write either "to" or "tu" for consonant-T. Also, Japanese people do not know that "-son" (Watson, Johnson, Mickelson, Davidson) is pronounced "sn". So, "son" is always pronounced "s-o-n".
- Phil Mickelson is pronounced not "micklsn" but "mi-ke-lu-son". Some people even put the stress on "ke". Michael is "my-kellu" in Japan.
- Lucas Glover, known for NOT wearing a glove, was pronounced "glober" at first, but now both "glober" and "glover". He has two names in Japan.
- Rory McILROY is pronounced "macky-loy". Someone called him this way because there is "I" in the spelling. This is a typical case of someone who just "reads" but "never hears". (In French, German, Spanish and Italian, spelling determines pronunciation, but that rule doesn't apply to English and Japanese.)
- Shane Lowry is pronounced "law-ly". Even his sponsor calls him so. Steve Lowery used to be called the same way.
- Scott Stallings is pronounced "star-ling-su". When did he become a bird, "starling"?
- Justin Thomas is pronounced "taw-masu". It's because Thomas Edison was called "taw-masu edgy-son" long time ago and has been used in textbooks and newspapers ever since. "First come, ENGRAVED" is the Japanglish formula.
- Camilo Villegas & Emiliano Grillo: One thing common to them is that they are Spanish names and contain "double L" in the spelling. In Spanish, pronunciation of double-L is different from single-L. For example, "lla" is pronounced "ya", "lya" or "ja" depending on the district. Also, in Spanish, V is pronounced B. So, Villegas is "bi-je-gas", Grillo is "gri-yo" and Ballesteros is "bayesteros. Actually, "professor" Martin Hall calls him this way.
- Xander Schauffele is pronounced in two ways in Japan. One is "shau-fe-le" in German way, the other, "shaw-fe-li" in English way. I've seen a short program introducing PGA players in which he himself pronounced in the English way. So, forget the German pronunciation.
Mike Piazza of LA Dodgers was called "Pia-za" in Japan as pizza is called "pi-za" here. When he found this fact, he visited the broadcasting booth of the Japanese network at the Dodger Stadium and said "My name is PiaZZA. Please don't call me PiaZA". Of course, the network complied. What I want to say is that one has to do that much to make a Japanese network use the correct pronunciation. Will PGA players do it, too?
ON CLOSING
The most serious problem about Japanglish golf terms is that virtually all Japanese golfers, professionals, amateurs and junior golfers have no doubt that these terms are "English". Media people are no different. Just recently, I came across a column in one of the leading golf magazines in which a prominent professional golfer mentioned; "Golf terms are all English in the first place. So, there is no need for an interpreter in golf."
The background:
1. English terms regarding "play" were not imported while terms regarding course and equipments were introduced correctly. Other than those, Japanese expressions were used in the early stage.
2. There are "jargons" in any industry to separate insiders from outsiders. At first, imported "English" terms were the only jargons, since golf was not for general public. In time, need for English jargons regarding play to replace Japanese expressions emerged, but there was no textbook.
3. Some people started "moonshining" their own jargons by means of using Japanese-English dictionary with limited knowledge of English. Golfers welcomed the "new" jargons.
4. Both print and broadcasting media welcomed these jargons. In fact, there is no system in the Japanese society to check the legitimacy of foreign words written in KANA. Thus, they are still being created.
Although there are many more Japanglish golf terms other than the ones listed in this blog, I would like to close my story for now. Lastly, it is quite free for you to quote any part of this blog, if you need to. Thank you very much for being patient with my clumsy, imperfect English. So long for now!
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