What it means
A very normal British way to say something meets the standard it’s meant to meet. If a meal, a job, a room, or someone’s effort is up to scratch, it’s good enough and properly done. If it isn’t, it needs sorting out. Handy for complaining without kicking the whole furniture kingdom over.
Usage examples
"The boss said the display wasn’t up to scratch, so we stayed late, tidied it up, and made it look proper before the weekend rush."
"The hotel was lovely but the breakfast was not really up to scratch."
"Get your homework up to scratch or you will be redoing it at the weekend."
"Your essay's nearly there, but it's not quite up to scratch yet, so give it another pass before you hand it in."
"The pub's got charm, I'll give it that, but the toilets were not up to scratch at all."
Where it comes from
It comes from prize-fighting in Britain. The scratch was a line marked in the ring, and a boxer had to walk up to it to prove he was still fit to carry on. If he couldn’t come up to scratch, he was finished. From there it drifted into everyday talk for meeting the required standard.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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We look after this expression together
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- An example
- Your patch
- Your voice