Just about average or typical. The term comes from golf, where par means the number of strokes set as a standard for a particular hole or for the entire course, a score not attained by the majority of players. The term was transferred to other activities in the 1920s, but often with a mildly derogatory or deprecatory connotation, as in “He’s nearly half an hour late; that’s just about par for the course.” To be up to par also means “to meet a standard or norm,” while below par means “less than satisfactory,” and by extension in poor spirits or health. Thus C. E. Montague (1867–1928) wrote (Fiery Particles), “I was born below par to the extent of two whiskies.”