Meaning: You won’t see Pádraig Harrington or Tiger Woods taking a Mulligan – well, not in a tournament anyway – but lesser mortals are known to avail of them in “social” golf: a Mulligan is a retaken shot, after a poor first effort.

Origin: We thought this one would be straightforward, with most sources claiming the term was named after Canadian David Mulligan in the 1920s after he allowed himself retake a bad tee-shot at his Montreal club. He called it a “correction shot”, much to the amusement of his friends, who then dubbed it a “Mulligan”.

Alas, it’s just one of several theories about the origin of the term. Another is that it was named after a John “Buddy” Mulligan, famed for replaying his poor shots at his New Jersey club, or Thomas Mulligan, an Anglo-Irish gent and golf enthusiast who was also in the habit of treating himself to “correction” shots.

Then there’s the theory Mulligan was the derogatory term for Irish-Americans who joined well-to-do country clubs in America in the early 1900s, and because they were regarded as poor golfers the common Irish surname was used by locals to jeer their regular need to re-take shots.

There’s another one. A “mull” – a small hill of grass or dirt – was used in the early days of the game before tees arrived. If the golfer wanted to re-take his shot he’d say to his caddy: “I’ll have a mull again”.

Not convinced? Us neither.