“Raise the bar” means to set a higher standard. The metaphor maps directly onto sports such as high jump and pole vault, where the physical bar is raised as performance improves. Secondary language-history reporting places figurative use around the turn of the twentieth century; this guide records that as approximate chronology, not a single proven coinage date.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
It means to increase the standard, level, or expectation that must be met.
Key details
Chronologyaround the turn of the twentieth century (secondary report)
Core Meaningset a higher standard
Source Metaphorhigh jump / pole vault bar
Documented timeline
Date unresolved
Figurative use reported around the turn of the twentieth century
VOA Learning English reports that word experts place the idiom’s emergence around this period.
secondary reportedconfidence: medium
Variants
raise the bar
Current idiomatic form.
set the bar higher
Related standards metaphor, not necessarily the same fixed idiom.
Meaning over time
Physical sports bar
High jump and pole vault use a bar whose height is increased as the standard rises.
Increase a standard
The sports image generalized to expectations, quality, and performance.
Further guidance
Chronology boundary
VOA’s language-history account says the idiom came into use around the turn of the twentieth century; this is stored as an approximation rather than an absolute first use.
Meaning
Cambridge defines the idiom as setting a higher standard by doing something very well.
Sports Metaphor
The image is transparent in high jump and pole vault: succeeding at one height leads to the bar being moved higher.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
“Move the goalposts” is a sports metaphor for unfairly changing the rules or target after a process has begun. Cambridge marks the idiom informal/disapproving; specialist archival research reports a figurative 1924 parliamentary example, far earlier than some later-popularity accounts.
“Go the extra mile” means making more effort than expected. The expression belongs to a documented biblical allusion family: Matthew 5:41 supplies the older “go a mile…with him twain” image, while archival research reports explicit “go the extra mile” wording in 1901.
“As fit as a fiddle” means very healthy and physically strong. The guide stays with documented present-day meaning and does not invent an exact origin or first-use story.
“Bite the dust” is an informal idiom used for dying, failing, stopping working, or being defeated depending on context. This guide publishes the supported modern senses without asserting an exact origin or first use.
“Break a leg” is an informal good-luck wish, especially before a performance. The theatrical sense is documented in mid-twentieth-century American print, but several popular explanations for why a deliberately negative wish came to mean good luck remain unproved.
“Butterfingers” is a humorous term for a person who drops things they are carrying or trying to catch. It is normally playful or teasing; because it labels a person’s clumsiness, tone and relationship matter when using it about someone else.
“By the skin of your teeth” means succeeding only by a very small margin. It highlights a near failure or narrow escape, and this guide keeps that modern meaning separate from unverified origin chronology.
“Close but no cigar” is an informal expression for an attempt that came near to success or correctness but did not quite achieve it. The modern meaning is published without claiming an exact inventor or first occurrence.
