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The phrase “ahead of the curve” is an idiom meaning someone who is ahead of others in learning or knowledge. It comes from plotting test results on a graph, where those on the right side have a better understanding of the material and are “ahead of the curve.”
Idioms are very common in the English language. Many people use them every day without much thought. An idiom is a group of words that are used together but don’t really mean what they say. The phrase “ahead of the curve” is an example of an idiom, meaning someone who is ahead of others or a schedule in terms of learning something new or completing a task, or who has more knowledge or skills than others. others.
The phrase “ahead of the curve” comes from the practice of plotting test results on a graph. A graph is used to represent the number of test takers on the horizontal axis and the score each received on the vertical axis. A dot is drawn for each test score and a line is drawn to represent the flow of scores. The purpose of the graph is to give you a quick look at how the group performed overall on the test.
When test scores are plotted, the expected result is that there will be some on the left side of the graph. These are the low scores. Typically, there aren’t many low scores. The line representing these scores is an almost straight line that begins to rise as it approaches the mean scores.
The central part of the graph is typically a bell shape. The line from the left rises sharply as it reaches the range of average, or mean, scores. It peaks about the middle of the summit, then curves down to drop sharply again on the right-hand side. The number of very high scores is usually a low number similar to the number of very low scores.
Where an individual shows up on this graph indicates how well that person did on the test. This, in turn, refers to his understanding of the material. If a person is on the left side of the bell curve, it indicates poor understanding and that the person is not doing as well as most of the others in the group. When the results fall on the curve, it indicates that he or she is average, doing what is expected, no more, no less.
Someone whose results fall on the right side of the bell curve shows a better understanding of the material or concepts than the average person in the group. It is this placement of a person on the bell chart that ultimately gives rise to the “ahead of the curve” idiom, as those with better than average understanding will be on the right side, ahead of everyone else, and therefore ahead of the curve.
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