Par For The Course
Par For The Course
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Babies cry
when they are hungry. Water turns to ice when the
temperature drops below freezing. These are things we
expect. In fact, we are so sure about them that we can bank
on them.
We can use par for the course to talk about rules or policies
we don’t like, but also expect. For example, regarding a
competition, someone might say, “The rules are so unfair.
Unfortunately, that’s just par for the course.”
The word “par” comes from Latin. It can mean “that which
is equal.”
Language experts suspect the expression par for the
course came from the game of golf, where “par” is the
expected score of a skilled player for part of the golf course,
or the whole course.
For example, imagine you travel far from your home. You
see a car with unusual lights on its wheels. You wonder if
that car is the only one with those special lights. But the
next day, you see another car with similar lights. In this
situation, you might ask someone who lives in the area, “Is
that a thing?” The person can tell you if the lights are
unusual, or if they are starting to become popular with
some people. If it’s a trend, the person can simply answer,
“Yeah, it’s a thing.”
Was today’s Words and Their Stories the same old, same
old for you? I hope not!
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Babies cry
when they are hungry. Water turns to ice when the
_________ drops below ________. These are things we expect.
In fact, we are so sure about them that we can bank on
them.
And there are some days when we feel like nothing new
happened, where today seems almost the same as
yesterday. In such a situation, we can say ___ _____ , ___ _
____, which is another way of saying “nothing new or
different happened.”
We can use par for the course to talk about rules or ______
we don’t like, but also expect. For example, regarding a
_________, someone might say, “The rules are so _______.
Unfortunately, that’s just par for the course.”
You can also use the expression in a ______ way—that is,
with neither a ______ nor a ______ feeling. This happens
when we are trying to make clear that people shouldn’t be
surprised by something or place too much __________ on it.
The word “par” comes from Latin. It can mean “that which
is _______.”
For example, ________ you travel far from your home. You
see a car with unusual lights on its wheels. You _______ if
that car is the only one with those special lights. But the
next day, you see another car with similar _______. In this
situation, you might ask someone who lives in the area, “Is
that a thing?” The person can tell you if the lights are
unusual, or if they are starting to become ______ with some
people. If it’s a _____, the person can simply answer, “Yeah,
it’s a thing.”
Was today’s Words and Their Stories the same old, same
old for you? I hope not!