Continuing the theme of words that may or may not sound a little bit rude. If there are any of you out there who don’t want to read about golf clubs, look away now.
Strangely, I have been able to find nothing about the roots of this strange word. If anyone knows more, please post and augment my frightening ignorance.
A niblick is a flat-bladed golf club with a sharply-angled face, primarily used for escaping bunkers and sand traps. For those who have any idea, it’s the equivalent of a 9-iron. The word generally refers to the older wooden clubs with metal heads you might see hanging from the wall in an “authentic” English bar in Minsk.
There is also the “mashie” – the older version of the 6- or 7-iron. In between those is – yes, you guessed it – a “mashie-niblick”. Quite apart from the trousers, golfers can be a peculiar bunch.
And there was me thinking a niblink was that bit on a Swiss Army knife that most people look at with puzzlement.
Until they learn that it’s actually custom-designed for getting Boy Scouts out of Girl Guides.
They’re an imaginative lot, the Swiss.