the.com/mulligan
The do-over golf invented so bad shots could keep their dignity.
means A free replay granted after a bad attempt, letting you pretend the first try didn't count.
from Golf lore credits a Canadian golfer named Mulligan (several candidates get proposed, none confirmed) who, after a shaky tee shot, simply teed up again and played a 'correction shot' — and his buddies started calling any do-over a 'mulligan' in his honor. The story is charming but undocumented; what's certain is the term surfaced in golf slang in the earlier 1900s before spreading into everyday speech for any forgiven first attempt.
- origin
- named after a golfer named Mulligan, disputed which one
- not official
- not allowed in professional or rules-based golf
- borrowed term
- now means any do-over, golf course or not