When I began this article on business buzzwords that come from golf, I thought I'd get a lot of examples using "par." It's such a cool word.

However, I soon realized "par" has at least three definitions, and expressions such as "Not up to par," "Not on a par with," and "The goods are subpar" had nothing to do with golf, where being below par on a hole is a good thing. Golfers would never say one hole was on a par with another — they'd say they had the same par. And so on.

But in the language game, getting your expectations dashed by the bloody dictionary is par for the course.

So while “par” isn’t a star, it plays its part in explaining other golf terms, such as two of my favorites: “bogie” and “birdie,” which mean one over par for a hole (bad) and one under (good). Surely you’ve heard a colleague say, “I got a bogie in that meeting,” to which you can quip “A double bogie at least!” (This may stem from Humphrey Bogart’s nickname, but don’t bet on it.)

“Birdie” I don’t hear much off the course, except when paired with “bogie” as in “Do you think we scored a birdie or a bogey with that idea?” And maybe I’m reaching for even that usage. Oh well, obscure examples are also par for the course in language criticism.

Golf has plenty of other slightly cockeyed terms that business can borrow. “Mulligan,” for instance, the rule-breaking do-over of teeing up a second ball after you drove the first one into the jungle.

Wait a darn minute, there’s a rich source of buzzworthy terms in that last sentence: “teeing.” For when you tee up the ball, the next step is for it to be teed off — with a club. Sounds violent. And golfers can get teed off — angry, especially because of something that somebody has done — like make your ball fall off its tee.

At this point, all you can do is grab the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs (whatever those are) and learn that “tees” is a back-formation from teaz (1673), a Scottish word of uncertain origin that described a little heap of sand. The verb meaning “place a ball on a golf tee” is recorded from 1673; figurative sense of “to make ready” (usually with up) is recorded from 1938.

“Teed off” in the figurative sense of “angry, annoyed” is first recorded 1953, probably as a more polite way to say “pissed off.” I have always found that “ticked off” works well with any audience.

To finish up this month’s focus on golf terms, here are three I’m going to start using both on and off the links:

• Whiff: A complete miss. Also known as an “air ball.”
• Sweet spot: The point on the clubface you want to find because when it hits your ball, the clubface will not torque or twist to either side, and your shot will go straight.
• Fat Shot: When your club hits the turf behind the ball, resulting in poor contact and a shot that comes up well short of the target.

Here’s hoping you don’t whiff on a summer vacation and find your sweet spot without too many fat shots. See you next month.