double standard
1. Any set of values or principles that are applied differently and unequally to two or more similar people, groups, or situations. The prime minster was accused of engaging in a double standard regarding his foreign policy, supporting extremism in countries long regarded as allies while decrying the same kind of extremism elsewhere.
2. An unwritten provision granting more sexual freedom to men than to women. The double standard that young men are encouraged to be sexually active while young women may be ostracized for it is still a hugely pervasive problem for many young people growing up today.
gold standard
1. Literally, a monetary standard where a currency's value is defined by an existing and fixed amount of gold. There are many who believe that the country should return to the gold standard for a more secure means of issuing currency.
2. By extension, a well-established and widely accepted model or paradigm of excellence by which similar things are judged or measured. Her research methodology in the late 1960s has since become the gold standard for drug trials today.
new standard
A newly-adopted benchmark or measure; a new way of judging something. High unemployment rates have become the new standard due to the country's economic strife.
standard fare
A common occurrence. Smashed instruments are standard fare at a rock concert. Arguments are standard fare for the Smith family at Thanksgiving, believe me.
standard-bearer
1. A military member who carries the flag of his or her unit. The soldier marched proudly, flag in hand, as the standard-bearer of his unit.
2. The widely-accepted leader of a cause, movement, or ideology. She rose above her contemporaries to become the standard-bearer of the women's rights movement.