"Fore!" is shouted as a warning during a golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 game when it appears possible that a golf ball

Golf ball

A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in the game of golf.Under the Rules of Golf, a golf ball weighs no more than 1.620 oz , has a diameter not less than 1.680 in , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits...

 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. 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.

Other possible origins include the term being derived from the term "fore-caddy", a caddy

Caddy

In golf, a caddy is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives insightful advice and moral support. A good caddy is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the best strategy in playing it. This includes knowing overall yardage, pin...

 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!". The Colonel Bogey March

Colonel Bogey March

The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts , a British army bandmaster who later became director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth...

 is based on the descending minor third which the original Colonel Bogey whistled instead of yelling Fore around 1914.

Popular culture

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:

• A Miller Lite
  Miller Lite
  Miller Lite is a 4.2% abv pale lager brand sold by MillerCoors of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Sibling beers include Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life.-History:...
  
  ad in the 80s depicted a bunch of golfers heading into the clubhouse. One exclaims he wants a "Lite Beer" (as it was called at the time), another one says "Make it two", another one says "Three", and yet another one says "Four", and they all duck down.