What Is The Meaning Of Back To The Drawing Board

Meaning:

The phrase dorsum to the drawing lath ways to start over once again because a plan failed to come up together; going dorsum to foursquare one.

This expression describes an idea that went wrong and it'southward implied that changes are needed if success is to exist found the next time.

Example: My sink has been leaking lately, so I thought I would use what little plumbing knowledge I have to attempt and fix it. Afterward several failed attempts, I think it'south fourth dimension for me to go back to the drawing board to figure out what I'm doing incorrect… or maybe I should just call an actual plumber instead.

Synonyms / Similar Phrases:

i. Back to square one
ii. Dorsum to where we started

Going back to the drawing board. — iStock.com / Paul Bradbury

The Origin of 'Back To The Drawing Board'

The Idea Behind 'Dorsum To The Drawing Board'

Before creating something complex, a drawing board (also chosen a drawing table or architect's table) might be used to design information technology get-go. On these boards, you tin make a bones outline of what needs to be washed and plan out how it should be created. Information technology's like making a blueprint for your project.

For example, an builder uses a drawing board to plan the measurements of a house earlier its built. He can also figure out how he wants the interior of the house to look like and where each room would be placed. This helps the builder get a clear idea on how he wants everything to expect like overall in one case it is finished. And then, while the house is being congenital, if anything goes wrong, the architect might go back to where his plans first started—the drawing board! He would go back hither to make whatsoever necessary modifications.

The Origin

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 consists of a crashed plane in the groundwork, and there'southward a homo dressed in a adapt walking abroad from the crash site, maxim:

"Well, back to the cartoon lath."

The suit wearing human in the cartoon looks like he is conveying some blueprints, so perhaps he designed this plane. If that's the example, hopefully the next i won't go and then poorly!

Example Sentences: Back To The Drawing Board

After a month on this new diet, I withal weigh the same as I did before. I approximate information technology's back to the drawing lath for me.

I built a miniature race car, but the wheels practice non turn properly. Time to go back to the drawing board so I tin can figure out a solution.

Annotation: Sometimes, a phrase'southward origin is not known. When that happens, I'll unremarkably include whatsoever explanations or theories that talk about where the expression comes from. If no plausible sounding theory exists, and so the earliest known quote of the idiom in print should exist included on the page. This can give y'all an idea on how old the idiom is.