Par for the Course

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

In news reports, you can hear about surprising events. You can learn about new technologies, new plans, and big changes.

But in today's Words and Their Stories, we consider how to talk about things that do not change — at least not very much.

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.

To bank on something means² that you are not taking a chance by saying something is going to happen or that something is true. It is a stronger way of saying that you can count on something.

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 same old, same old, which is another way of saying "nothing new or different happened."

Now consider people's behavior. Imagine you are planning to spend time with a friend. You agree to meet your friend at a local market, but when you arrive, your friend is not there. After waiting almost an hour, you receive a message on your phone. It says, "I'm so sorry! I forgot about our meeting! Are you still there?"

At this point, you simply say to yourself, "par³ for the course."

In this example, par for the course means your friend's behavior was not surprising but expected. That is because you know your friend often forgets things. But it also means you are not pleased with the behavior. We mostly use par for the course to express both that we do not like a situation and that the situation is the same as what we expected.

We can use par for the course to talk about rules or policies⁴ we don't like, but also expect. For example, regarding⁵ a competition, someone might say, "The rules are so unfair. Unfortunately, that's just par for the course."

You can also use the expression in a neutral⁶ way—that is, with neither a positive nor a negative feeling. This happens when we are trying to make clear that people shouldn't be surprised by something or place too much importance on it.

For example, someone might say, "Security⁷ checks at airports are par for the course." Here, the speaker means, "Because security checks are normal at airports, you shouldn't be surprised by them."

The word "par" comes from Latin⁸. 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 skilled⁹ player for part of the golf course, or the whole course.

Next, we look at an expression in American English: Is that a thing? This question asks if something is new or becoming more common.

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 trend¹⁰, the person can simply answer, "Yeah, it's a thing."

We don't ask "Is that a thing?" for something that is already common or expected. For example, you would not say "Is that a thing?" for an activity like brushing your teeth.

However, you could ask the question about a new health trend.

For example, in 2023, a person might ask if something is "a thing" about using virtual¹¹ reality for health and fitness¹². That is because the technology is still new and not used by most people.

Was today's Words and Their Stories the same old, same old for you? I hope not!

Listen for the expressions from today's program as you read and listen to English. Then let us know what you find by writing to us in the Comments section.

Words in This Story

neutral -adj. not having positive, negative, or other characterizations based on a person's likes or dislikes.

trend -n. a development toward something new and different

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

4 policies   

n.政策( policy的名词复数 )；策略；政府；策略性

参考例句：

• The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his economic policies. 财政大臣被迫狼狈地承认他的经济政策存在失误。
• an angry denunciation of the government's policies 愤怒谴责政府的政策

5 regarding   

prep.关于，至于；就…而论，在…方面

参考例句：

• Regarding John,I will write to him at once.至于约翰，我将立即给他写信。
• Regarding these facts,a special committee is to be appointed.鉴于这些事实，必须成立一个专门委员会。

6 neutral   

adj.中立的，不偏不倚的；中性的

参考例句：

• Behaviour is never culturally neutral.人的行为从来都受文化的影响。
• They have maintained a consistently neutral stance.他们一直持中立态度。

7 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

8 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

9 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

10 trend   

n.趋势，倾向，方位；vi.倾向，转向

参考例句：

• Today's trend is toward less formal clothing.眼下时尚趋向于穿着随便。
• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。

11 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

12 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。