Meaning of ‘Back to The Drawing Board’
The phrase ‘back to the drawing board’ means to start over from the beginning because a plan failed to come together. It implies that the previous attempt was flawed and that a new strategy may be needed for success.
Example: After trying several times, I couldn’t fix the leaky faucet with my limited plumbing knowledge. So it’s time to go back to the drawing board and rethink what I should do.
Similar Phrases: go back to square one, back to where we started, start from scratch, start over
Related Idioms:
Want to discover more common phrases that start with B? Check out our Famous Idioms Starting With B page for a list of them.
The Origin of ‘Back To The Drawing Board’
Before starting a project, someone may decide to use a drawing board (or architect’s table) to design it first. Writing down details and creating a basic outline of things beforehand can be very helpful.
This is similar to the approach an architect might make. Typically, the first step would be to plan everything out using a drawing board. They would sketch their designs and visualize the layout before moving forward with construction. They could also work on the overall interior and the placement of each room. Doing all of this helps the architect get a clear understanding of how everything should look when it’s finished. Now, here’s the key point: If anything goes wrong during construction, where would the architect go? Mostly likely, they would go back to the drawing board—the place where their designs first began!
The origin of this phrase is believed to come from an American artist named Peter Arno. He wrote a cartoon for the New Yorker in 1941. The cartoon shows a crashed plane, and there’s a man dressed in a suit walking away from the crash site, saying:
“Well, back to the drawing board.”
This implies the man in the suit designed the plane and things went seriously wrong. Hopefully his next attempt will go more smoothly!
Example Sentences
Let’s see a few usage cases for the idiom ‘back to the drawing board.’
Example Sentences:
1. I tried adding more detergent to improve the smell of my clothes, but it’s not working. It looks like I’ll have to go back to the drawing board to find a solution.
2. To come up with a more effective approach, I will need to return to the drawing board to think things through.
3. After tasting the soup, the chef realized that he needed to go back to the drawing board if he wanted to improve his recipe.
Example Sentences Using Similar Phrases:
1. All the progress I made was lost when my dog chewed the paper I was working on, so now I’ll have to start from scratch.
2. The first draft wasn’t quite right, so I decided to start over and rewrite it.
3. The flower I planted is not doing so well, so I’m going back to square one to figure out what went wrong.