Idiom – Back to the drawing board

Back to the drawing board – Idiom of the day

Meaning:

to start over

History:

American artist named Peter Arno, had his cartoons published in the New Yorker. In one of the comic strips, he drew a man in a suit, carrying a bunch of rolled up papers and walking away from a crashed plane. These papers are assumed to be mechanical drawings of an aircraft and there is a bubble above the man’s head that read, ‘Well, back to the drawing board’

Example:

1. I was told that my project was a failure, so I went back to the drawing board.
2. If this doesn’t work, despite all our trials, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board.
3. There are a lot of issues, let’s go back to the drawing board.
4. If we want to identify the mistake, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board.

Scenario 1:

Zane: What do you think went wrong? I didn’t expect this result.

Das: Neither did I. Shall we go back to the drawing board?

Scenario 2:

Lavender: I think this is useless.

Brian: No, I think I identify the problem. We don’t have to go back to the drawing board.

Scenario 3:

Grey: Are the rumors true?

Herald: What are the rumors? I’ve heard a lot this morning.

Grey: That you’re fired?

Herald: Not at all. The boss rejected my proposal. That’s all.

Grey: Ah, so it must be back to the drawing board for you then!