Par for the Course

Golf is one of many sports that is more fun to play than to watch. Some people might say that it spoils a perfectly good walk, but other may counter that it enhances it. There are a handful idioms that come from the world of golf, many of which are centred around the concept of "par".

Every hole in golf has a par--that is, the number of strokes that you should need to get the ball in the hole. Usually, the numbers are chosen for experienced players, and beginners can't actually expect to hit par very often. A par 3 course is one with only par 3 holes. These are the shortest holes, and therefore the most fun and least intimidating.

If your score is under par, that's good; if it is over par, not so good. If you are having an average game, then your score is right on par. Similarly, anything outside of a golf game can also be right on par or par for the course. That means that things are happening just as excpected. A new employee may witness strange behaviour from one of his coworkers, or his new boss--yelling or talking to himself. Then another coworker will pull him aside and tell him not to worry, that this is just par for the course.

We also use the concept of par to describe above- or below-average work of any kind. If something is not too good, or leaves something to be desired, then we can say that it's below par. On the other hand, if something is above par then it is better than normal. The strange thing is, in an actual game of golf, it is better to be below par, because the lowest score wins. Somehow, when the idioms made the transition to general usage, they were flipped around. By now you probably know that that's just par for the course for the English language.