Performing at a level that is substandard, inadequate, or worse than expected; feeling unwell or not at one's best.
This creates one of the most confusing contradictions in English idioms.
This phrase creates a delightful linguistic paradox - in golf, being below par is excellent (shooting under par), but in everyday speech, being below par means performing poorly. This contradiction highlights how metaphors can evolve independently from their source domains, sometimes creating opposite meanings.
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