Crossword Genius

Getting low score on it is no great shakes (7,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

richter scale

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'getting' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for richter scale that I've seen before include "Used to measure earthquake magnitude" , "Measure of earthquake strength" , "Measure of energy released by earthquakes" , "On which earthquakes are measured" , "On which an earthquake is measured" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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