"Fore!" is shouted as a warning during a golf game when it appears possible that a golf ball may hit other players or spectators. The mention of the term in an 1881 British Golf Museum indicates that the term was in use at least as early as that period.[1] The term means "look ahead", and it is believed to come from the military "beware before", which an artilleryman about to fire would yell alerting nearby infantrymen to drop to the ground to avoid the shells overhead. [1][2][3]
Other possible origins include the term being derived from the term "fore-caddy", a caddy waiting down range from the golfer to find where the ball lands. These caddies were often warned about oncoming golf balls by a shout of the term "fore-caddy" which was eventually shortened to just "fore!".[1][3] The Colonel Bogey March is based on the descending minor third which the original Colonel Bogey whistled instead of yelling Fore around 1914.[4]
Because of the nature of golf with the word "fore", which is ducking immediately if you hear it in your direction, a few television commercials have made light of that: