Swing Into Golf Idioms (1)

Golf has introduced some interesting phrases into English
Today top golfers will compete in the sport's oldest major tournament, the British Open. Also called The Open, this year's tournament will take place over the next four days. Golf fan or not, you can still thank the sport for adding some colorful phrases to the English language.

Par for the course 
Golf courses set the number of strokes required to put the ball in each hole and to finish the entire course. To make par for the course, a player must finish the course within the set number of strokes.

Likewise, in daily life, par for the course refers to things or people meeting expectations. For example, one could say, "Jane usually gets good grades. Her high score today is par for the course."

Above and below/under par
Let's assume par for an 18-hole course is 72. Using only 70 strokes would be tow strokes under par while finishing in 74 would be two strokes over par. Finishing under par is good; above par is bad - in golf. In daily life, however, something that's below par has failed to meet expectations. So avoid restaurants with service that's below par, and pick ones with above par food.

Info Cloud

As I talk with students, I sometimes make a mental note of words they mispronounce. If I hear them often enough, I'll write them down. Let's look at a few. The first is the adverb "usually", which I sometimes hear pronounced "urally".

It's a tough word to say correctly, even for some native English speakers. "Usually" actually has two pronunciations.

Right! You could say it with three syllables u‧sual‧ly or four syllables u‧su‧al‧ly, but the important thing is to enunciate that /ʒə/ sound.

Right, okay! While we're on the topic, let's mention another frequently mispronounced word, "ask". To often I hear people say "aks".

Now, we know it takes extra effort with the tongue to generate that "k" sound right after the "s".

We also know there are more and more people who are defending the "aks" pronunciation saying it's acceptable.

But, as English teachers, we must insist on its standard pronunciation, "ask".

Okay, finally, the word "practice". I sometimes hear it said "practiks".

You know, my guess is people mix up the two c's.

You're probably right, Ken. The first "c" has a hard /ˈk/ sound, while the second a /ˈs/ sound. Practice.

要注意發音的字:
usually /ˈju:ʒəwəli/
ask /ˈæsk, Brit ˈɑ:sk/
practice /ˋpræktis/

enunciate v.
/ɪˈnʌnsiˌeɪt/
to pronounce words or parts of words clearly [+ obj]

Language Lab
tournament n. 比賽, 錦標賽
a competition in which players compete against each other in a series of games until there is one winner
- The boxing tournament attracted a large audience.
這場拳擊 賽吸引了大量的觀眾
- The team was defeated in the first round of the tournament.
這隻隊伍在錦標賽的第一輪就被打敗了

stroke n. 高爾夫球的揮杆
the action of hitting the ball in games such as tennis, golf, and cricket
- The player's lucky stroke put him back in the lead.
這隻幸運的揮杆讓這選手回到排名第一
- Victor was several strokes over par on the eighth hole.
Victor 在第八浻用了超過標準杆好幾杆數才完成
stroke n.中風
if someone has a stroke, an artery (=tube carrying blood) in their brain suddenly bursts or becomes blocked, so that they may die or be unable to use some muscles
- George had a stroke last year, so he's undergoing physical therapy now.
George 去年中風了, 所以他現在做復健中

refer v. 提及 [to+受詞]
refer to somebody/something phrasal verb
- The term "NEET" refers to young people who are not in employment, education or training.
- The speaker referred to his childhood memories in his speech.

assume v. 假設, 假定, 以為
to think that something is true, although you do not have definite proof
- If the package is of good quality, people tend to assume the content is of good quality, too.
- I'm assuming everyone here is ready for this intensive training.


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