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foozle: msg#00024

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: foozle


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The Word of the Day for January 25 is:

foozle \FOO-zul\ verb
: to manage or play awkwardly : bungle


Example sentence:
Carl thought he had an easy putt lined up for a birdie, but instead
he foozled the shot and hooked the ball to the left.

Did you know?
"Foozle" dates only to the late 19th century, but its origins are
obscure. The German dialect verb "fuseln" ("to work carelessly") could figure
in its history, but that speculation has never been proven. Not particularly
common today, "foozle" still holds a special place in the hearts, minds, and
vocabularies of many golfers. In golf, to foozle a shot is to bungle it and a
foozle is a bungled shot. In a _Century_ magazine piece from 1899 called "Two
Players and their Play," Beatrice Hanscom reveals more of golf's specialized
vocabulary:

She tops her ball; then divots fly;
In bunkers long she stays;
She foozles all along the course
In most astounding ways:
In sooth, it is an eery thing
The way Priscilla plays.





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