- Meaning
- This idiom means returning to the starting point after an effort fails or progress is undone, often with a sense of frustration or wasted effort. It’s used when plans, projects, or negotiations collapse, requiring a fresh start, and conveys the need to regroup or rethink an approach.
- Origin
- The phrase likely originated in the 1930s from British radio commentary on soccer or board games like Snakes and Ladders, where ‘square one’ was the starting position. A 1939 BBC broadcast referenced ‘back to square one’ in a football context, describing a return to the initial field position. Another theory links it to the board game Ludo, where players return to the first square after a setback. By the mid-20th century, it was common in British and American English, appearing in business and political discourse.
- Variants
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- Back to square one
- Start from square one
- Examples
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- The merger talks collapsed, so we’re back to square one with no deal in sight.
- After the software crashed, the team was back to square one, rewriting the code.
- Her plan failed spectacularly, leaving her back to square one in her job search.
- We’re back to square one after the client rejected our latest proposal.
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