Have you ever wondered...

Why "above par" means good and "below par" means poor, when the goal is to shoot under par on the golf course?

Turns out, "above par" and "below par" have nothing, I mean nada, zero, zilch, to do with golf...nope, friends (we are friends by now, aren't we?), these confusing phrases are financial in their provenance.

Par is the face-value of a financial instrument (stock certificate, bond, etc.) . If such instrument trades or is valued "above par," well, it's worth more than it says it is - you know, on its face. And if someone is performing above par, well, then he's, you know, exceeding expectations. And "below par" is, yup, the opposite.

So now you know.