par for the course

English

Alternative forms

• course par

Etymology

Originally a phrase used in golf. Ironically completing a golf course in par (or even net par) is actually unusually good for most golfers and is not a typical result.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑː fə ðə ˈkɔːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ fɚ ðə ˈkɔɹs/, /-ˈkɔəɹs/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

par for the course (not generally comparable, comparative more par for the course, superlative most par for the course)

1. (idiomatic) To be expected; normal; common.

   It took a long time to finish, but that's par for the course on a project like this.

   • 2017 December 8, Hadley Freeman, “Adam Gopnik: ‘You’re waltzing along and suddenly you’re portrayed as a monster of privilege’”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     […] Nigella Lawson and Ralph Fiennes, we were told, might pop by later. The Gopniks smiled calmly: this was all par for the course for them.

   • 2022, Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley‎^[2], Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     The extra scrutiny was a sign of the times, but having never IPO-ed a company before, most of the executive team took it as par for the course.

Synonyms

• predictable, typical, usual

Translations

to be expected; normal; common

• Polish: typowy (pl)
• Russian: в поря́дке веще́й (ru) (v porjádke veščéj)