A couple of stitches in your ear, tolerable (2-2)

I believe the answer is:

so-so

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'tolerable' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.

(Other definitions for so-so that I've seen before include "just about adequate" , "'Passable, middling (2-2)'" , "Fair to middling" , "Barely passable" , "OK, but nothing special" .)

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