up to scratch
2
5.0
- idiom
:
a la altura
- This time the budget was slashed, the wardrobe designs were not up to scratch, and the studio refused the director, George Cukor, sufficient time to work with the actors.
- come up to scratch
- fails to come up to scratch
And maybe she's doing something that isn't up to scratch, let's say, with regard to the house.
- And maybe she's doing something that isn't up to scratch, let's say, with regard to the house.
- And that really meant that students from the UK and Europe, if their knowledge wasn't up to scratch, then they wouldn't really have any tests to actually prove that.
- OK, We've got to get QA on this OS because the ISP has said this UX isn't up to scratch.
Examples
-
- I've had you brought here to inform you that you aren't up to scratch, Woods.
-
This would, of course, be for nought if the game mechanisms weren't up to scratch.
Blog text (7) -
There have been some awesome films this year, but which ones did you feel were not up to scratch?
Blog text (16) -
Too bad you're not up to scratch.
-
Don't get me wrong, he was a nice enough guy, but he wasn't quite up to scratch.
Blog text (31) -
Nothing that you’d call up to scratch.
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The report needs to be revised because it is not up to scratch in terms of clarity and detail.
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The restaurant's hygiene standards are finally up to scratch, meeting all health regulations.
-
His performance in the last match was up to scratch, earning him praise from the coach.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling healthy or good enough to use
641
1.9
Not perfect but good for what you need
487
2.3
Good enough in quality to meet normal needs
241
2.8
Good enough to do something
185
2.0
Enough quality or ability to do what is needed
81
2.3
Good enough to meet a need but not very good
1
4.2
Better than usual in quality, performance or value
Antonyms
How Good
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
2
5.0
234
2.7
17
3.9
27
4.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'satisfactory' is not transparently built from the literal constituents: 'up' (indicating direction or increase) and 'scratch' (a shallow mark) do not naturally combine to mean 'meeting the required standard'. This is an idiomatic use where the overall sense cannot be reliably predicted from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the individual words is unlikely to infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Up to scratch may come from old boxing. One popular story says that before a fight a line called the scratch was drawn on the ground and fighters had to step 'up to the scratch' to show they were fit and ready, so someone who would not reach it was not good enough. That's why up to scratch now means 'good enough' or acceptable.