Opposite for "gold standard" for a benchmark of awfulness

Question

A metaphorical meaning of "gold standard" is something that is really good to be compared with. For example, Wiktionary says

2. (idiomatic) A test or measure of comparison that is considered ultimate or ideal.

   The OED is the gold standard for English dictionaries. Everyone wants to see how their version measures up to that ideal.

Is there an example of a benchmark of awfulness, such that if something is worse than item X, then it is very bad?

An example of how this would be used is

Recently, Kazakhstan has become the _____ for backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakstan's.

Neither Oxford Dictionaries, the gold standard in dictionaries, nor Wiktionary mentions any antonyms.

Answer 1

Lead Standard

Recently the term lead standard has been used to contrast with gold standard. For example, the authors of a 2015 Queensland Times article, “Integration, assimilation should be gold standard”, write:

High concentrations of people in one suburb all maintaining a different language, culture and some religious practices is a problem. Add high unemployment and welfare dependence and this is the "lead standard" that is causing a lot of problems in Europe.

In this syndicated 2017 article from Raycom News Network, “Lee Zurik Investigation: Gold standard for ethics, lead standard for enforcement”, then-State Treasurer John Kennedy is quoted saying:

Kennedy says, "One of the things I took away from your series is, you can argue about whether Louisiana has a gold standard of ethics laws. But no reasonable person could argue that our standard of enforcement is anything more than, I don't know, lead or tin."

In this 2013 article on “Screening for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care” from the US Department of Veterans Affairs we read:

Non-independent comparisons of signs and symptoms with a standard of uncertain validity (which may even “incorporate” the sign or symptom result in its definition) among “grab” samples of patients plus, perhaps, normals. In addition to the biases of Level IV, these studies often include the sign or symptom result as part of a “lead standard,” resulting in a self-fulfilling prophesy. The results extravagantly over-estimate accuracy.

Other recent examples of lead standard in this sense can be found here and there, but the term is still far more commonly seen in discussions of safety standards for lead-exposure limits. You’re therefore probably safest using it only in contexts that also mention gold standard, like in this statistics quiz.

Answer 2

If the reason for your question is the apparent oxymoron in:

Kazakhstan has become the gold standard for backwardness

then you could opt for an alternative word to express "perfect example" for which I propose epitome. From Oxford Dictionaries:

A person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.

This seems imply the required extremeness of the characteristic, without implying a positive or negative tone to it. Hence you could say:

Kazakhstan has become the epitome of backwardness

If you want to reinforce the negative aspects of the characteristic being described, you could instead opt for nadir (likewise from Oxford Dictionaries):

The lowest or most unsuccessful point in a situation

Hence

Kazakhstan has become the nadir of backwardness

Answer 3

I think perhaps poster child or poster boy could work well. It is often used to to denote something that could be considered to be representative of unfavorable characteristics.

The term poster child (sometimes poster boy or poster girl) originally referred to a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters or other media as part of a campaign to raise money or enlist volunteers for a cause or organization. Such campaigns may be part of an annual effort or event, and may include the name and age of a specific child along with other personally identifiable attributes.[1][2]

The definition of "poster child" has since been expanded to a person of any age whose attributes or behaviour are emblematic of a known cause, movement, circumstance or ideal. Under this usage, the person in question is labeled as an embodiment or archetype. This signifies that the very identity of the subject is synonymous with the associated ideal; or otherwise representative of its most favorable or least favorable aspects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poster_child

That said;

Benchmark - a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared.

Is a generic term and could be applied either positively or negatively - depending on what the benchmark is in. Really any word that sets the thing in question as a prime example would work.

As an aside...

"Recently, Kazakhstan has become the _____ for backwardness"

...is pretty offensive whatever the blank!

Answer 4

The gold standard only describes the standard, not that which it measures, so there's no reason it must apply only to the true, good, and beautiful. Thus the gold standard of:

dictatorship (Stalin)

bad movies (Wiseau's The Room)

evil (Hitler or Genghis Khan)

genocide (Hitler again)

kitsch (Michael Jackson)

awfulness (Footloose the musical)

Now the usage to refer to Hitler et al. may set a new gold standard for bad taste — which got surprisingly few hits — but a gold standard for bad/failed art disturbs far less. In the context you suggest, a new gold standard for backwardness, i.e. the ultimate in backwardness, is perfectly reasonable.

---

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

The origin of the metaphorical use of gold standard was, of course, the actual gold standard by which a nation's currency was backed by a certain amount of the precious metal. The gold standard was not completely abandoned in the United States until 1971 under Nixon.

This, of course, did not stop anyone from using gold standard in a metaphorical sense, merely that the historical background has been jettisoned so that gold is no longer a noun (the actual metal) used attributively, but understood as an adjective that could be replaced by other substances, such as tchrist's lead standard, or a diamond or platinum standard, the latter two presumably exceeding a gold standard in value and excellence.

Answer 5

Recently, Kazakhstan has become the new low for backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakstan's.

The idiom, to hit a new low, is extremely derogatory, it suggests that someone or something has broken the record for appallingness.

For example, we thought Bob's racism was shameful in the past but today he hit a new low.

low

6. countable noun [usually singular] If something reaches a low of a particular amount or degree, that is the smallest it has ever been.
_{Collins Dictionary}

@professor_feather in the comments below suggested another expression, which I think is highly appropriate, the low bar.

set a low bar

To establish an expected, required, or desired (but ultimately constrictive) standard of quality _{Farlex Dictionary of Idioms}

Here's a very recent example of usage

"Frankly, at this point, the bar is so low that if he doesn't swear or doesn't malign a minority group, that's considered a huge success," Malmgren told CNBC.
(Source: CNBC 2 Feb, 2018)

P.S.
If one searches the Google news database, practically all the references to lead standard refer to the level of lead present in the water system, fuel, air, soil, paint, and even electronic devices.

For instance:

• The lead standard needs updating, and the EPA knows that. In the future, we probably will see a higher standard."

• Snyder calls the current federal lead standard "dumb and dangerous." He says he doesn't want Michigan to wait until the federal rule is reviewed, which is not scheduled to happen until next year.

• 28 Louisiana water systems would not meet proposed lead standard

• In 2008, the lead standard, or acceptable about of lead particulate in the air, changed from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter to 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter - a 90 percent reduction.

Answer 6

Recently, Kazakhstan has become the go to example for backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakhstan's.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a go to as "a ... thing that may be relied on or is regularly sought out in a particular situation". In your use case, Kazakhstan is a go to as an example for demonstrating backwardness.

In the same vein:

Recently, Kazakhstan has become the de facto standard for backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakstan's.

Wikipedia defines a de facto standard as "a custom or convention that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces". By this definition, a de facto standard is similar to a gold standard, because it is dominant above other standards, but unlike a gold standard, it doesn't necessarily describe the "best" standard.

Answer 7

I proffer brown standard.

Note that this is by no means a fixed-phrase, but is a play on the saying gold standard. It is not appropriate for formal discourse.

Answer 8

How about "bottom of the barrel", or more commonly "scrape the bottom of the barrel"? It implies the very worst example of something, acceptable (if at all) only because there are no other options available, or no way to sink lower.

Derived from the actual historical practice of scraping the last bits of food out of a storage barrel (see last source).

From The Free Dictionary:

The cheapest, worst, or lowest quality. Used to describe an item in a range of comparable products.

I know we need to save money, but this bottom-of-the-barrel computer barely even works.

Our washing machine broke down after just two months of use, but that's what we get for buying the bottom of the barrel.

From Dictionary.com:

verb phrase: To use one's last and worst resources; be forced to desperate measures : He scraped the bottom of the barrel when he proposed that topic for his paper (1942+)

From Wiktionary:

They must really have been scraping the bottom of the barrel if they couldn't find a better design than that.

Derived from the historical practice in the early United States of storing food in barrels; when food supplies ran low, only what was on the very bottom of the barrel remained, and had to be removed by scraping.

Answer 9

I think touchstone captures a similar meaning to "gold standard" without the positive implication.

It works particularly well in your example, as it indicates that other people are using Kazakstan as a reference point, without sounding like it is you who is making the assertion about Kazkhstan's backwardness.

Recently, Kazakhstan has become a touchstone for backwardness ...

Answer 10

Plumb new depths

If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad. Collins

Literally it means you've managed to find some ocean which is deeper than all the ocean you measured before.

Examples:

US house prices plumb new depths. House prices in 11 of the biggest US cities have fallen to their lowest point since the bust of 2006-7 – in Las Vegas, the fall is even worse. Guardian

When Allardyce suggested -- without a trace of irony or self-awareness after the 4-0 defeat at Tottenham in the previous match -- that Everton may need to be more boring and less adventurous, the statement was both bewildering and seemingly impossible. But this seventh successive game without a win proved Allardyce true to his word as boredom and a lack of adventure did in fact plumb new depths. ESPN

Gang members show no sympathy for victims. Indeed, MS-13 members proudly repeat their motto, “Kill, rape and control.” Many gangs plumb new depths of depravity in an effort to live up to that motto. NYT

Your example might be phrased as:

Recently, Kazakhstan has plumbed new depths in backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakstan's.

Answer 11

I think you could use the expression black sheep to refer to the worst member for having done something bad:

a member of a family or group regarded as not so respectable or successful as the rest.

(Collins Dictionary)

“Recently, Kazakhstan has become the black sheep for backwardness, with news articles saying that Australia's education system or internet speed is worse than Kazakstan's.”