Meeting an expected standard of quality, performance, or acceptability.
This phrase comes from golf, where 'par' represents the standard number of strokes expected for a skilled golfer to complete a hole. 'Up to par' originally meant achieving that standard score, and by the early 20th century had extended to mean meeting any expected standard.
Golf has given English many expressions about standards and performance, but 'up to par' is unique because in golf, being 'at par' is actually the goal - unlike 'below par' which confusingly means poor performance in general usage but good performance in golf. This creates one of English's most sport-specific linguistic contradictions.
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