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[0443] Back to the drawing board

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English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • Means to start over on a plan, design, or idea from the beginning because the previous attempt failed or was rejected.

Origin

  • Literally refers to an architect's or engineer's drawing board, where plans and designs are created.
  • If a design was flawed or rejected, the designer had to go back to the empty drawing board to start again.
  • Popularized by a cartoon caption by Peter Arno in The New Yorker in 1941, showing an engineer walking away from a crashed plane, saying, Well, back to the old drawing board.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Start over
  • Start from scratch
  • Rethink everything
  • Reset
  • Wipe the slate clean
  • Square one (as in Back to square one)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Scrap it and start again.
  • Total reboot.
  • Bin it. (UK Throw it away)

Vulgar/Emphatic:

  • Well, that's fucked. Start over.
  • Shit, gotta redo the whole damn thing.

Milder/Standard:

  • We need a new approach.
  • Let's reconsider our plan.
  • We'll have to begin again.

More Formal:

  • It is necessary to recommence the planning phase.
  • The initial concept requires a complete revision.

Situational Appropriateness

  • Appropriate in informal to semi-formal contexts, including business, creative work, and project management.
  • Conveys failure but often with a sense of resilience or acceptance of the need to restart.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • Unlikely to be misunderstood in meaning, as context usually involves a failed plan.
  • Ensure the tone doesn't sound overly defeatist if you intend to convey resilience.

Examples

  • The client rejected our proposal, so it's back to the drawing board.
  • Our experiment failed completely. We need to go back to the drawing board.
  • This marketing campaign isn't working; let's go back to the drawing board.

Dialogue

Developer A: The user testing results for the new interface were terrible. Nobody could figure it out.

Developer B: Ouch. Really? I thought it was intuitive.

Developer A: Apparently not. It seems we need to go back to the drawing board on the navigation.

Developer B: (Sighs) Alright. Let's schedule a meeting and rethink the whole flow.

Social Media Examples

  • Indie Dev Tweet: Spent weeks on a game mechanic... playtesters hated it. Sigh. Back to the drawing board. #gamedev #indiedev
  • Marketing Blog Post: Our first campaign flopped. Humbling, but we learned a lot. Back to the drawing board with new insights! #Marketing #FailureIsLearning
  • Facebook Status: My brilliant cake decorating idea ended up looking like a disaster. Oh well, back to the drawing board for the next birthday!

Response Patterns

  • Agreement/Resignation: Yeah, looks like it., Unfortunately., Okay, let's rethink.
  • Encouragement: Okay, let's figure out what went wrong and try again., Don't worry, we'll get it right next time.
  • Inquiry: What do you think went wrong?, Where do we start?

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

After deciding to go back to the drawing board:

  • Analyzing the failure: What went wrong? Why was it rejected?
  • Brainstorming new ideas or approaches.
  • Starting the planning or design process over.
  • Adjusting the strategy based on the failure.

Conversation Starter

  • No.
  • Used as a response to failure or rejection of a plan or idea.

Intonation

  • Often said with a sigh or tone of resignation or determination.
  • Stress can be on back and drawing board. BACK to the DRAWING board.

Generation Differences

  • Widely understood across generations. The visual metaphor is quite strong.

Regional Variations

  • Universal in English-speaking countries.
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