At par with the rest

Another Latin word for equal or equality is par. The phrases ‘at par, below par, and above par‘ are used when comparing one thing to another. Like we could say, ” The placement statistics in top tier universities were at par to last year’s regardless of the ongoing pandemic,” which means the placements were equal to last year’s. Above par is used when something exceeds expectations, and below par is used when something does not meet the expected values.

Establishing parity means equality, like two parties discussing various terms and conditions, and both parties would reach an agreement only after establishing parity. Finding disparity means finding discrepancies or inequalities. If the bank finds disparities in your loan application, it will not issue you a loan. Disparate means unequal or unlike how apples and oranges are disparate or how action films and animation movies for children are disparate.

In our country, it’s taboo to marry someone outside of the same community or caste, let alone religion. This becomes more and more true as we move away from the urban and suburban areas. We see how every week we hear about how some father and brother killed their girl because she probably married someone the family didn’t want her marrying, this is called honor killing. Disparage originally referred to marriage between two people of unequal rank, status, etc. It later took on the sense of dishonor (associated with such a marriage), and nowadays when we talk of ‘a disparaging comment‘, we mean a statement meant to discredit or belittle (a person, an effort etc).

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