Idiom
back to square one
Meaning
Located back at the start, as after a dead end or failure.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The deal fell through, so we're back to square one.”
“My computer crashed before I saved the file, so I am back to square one.”
“You lose the game and go back to square one if you miss.”
“After weeks of negotiation, the contract collapsed and we found ourselves back to square one.”
“The recipe failed because the oven was too hot, so I am back to square one with a new bag of flour.”
“The city rejected our building plans today, which means the architects are back to square one regarding the design.”
“The manuscript, which she had revised seven times, was accidentally deleted from her laptop, leaving her back to square one with nothing but a faint memory of the opening chapter.”
Examples
simple
“The deal fell through, so we're back to square one.”
“My computer crashed before I saved the file, so I am back to square one.”
“You lose the game and go back to square one if you miss.”
contextual
“After weeks of negotiation, the contract collapsed and we found ourselves back to square one.”
“The recipe failed because the oven was too hot, so I am back to square one with a new bag of flour.”
“The city rejected our building plans today, which means the architects are back to square one regarding the design.”
complex
“The manuscript, which she had revised seven times, was accidentally deleted from her laptop, leaving her back to square one with nothing but a faint memory of the opening chapter.”
Real-World Examples
“So we're back to square one and that shows how precarious and volatile is the situation in the Middle East and, as a consequence, it also shows the uncertainty surrounding inflation forecasts and therefore the challenges that policy has to face.” “It's back to square one and nothing has been achieved for the people," Pita told Reuters, reflecting on upheaval that saw Move Forward dissolved and Srettha Thavisin dismissed as premier in the space of a week, both by the same court.” “Hamas has warned that Israel’s latest military operations in Gaza and non-negotiable positions of Israel's prime minister could set ceasefire and hostage release talks “back to square one”.” “He has the problem of maintaining the interest of the reader who is always being sent back to square one in a sort of intellectual game of snakes and ladders.” Origin
The phrase is probably a metaphorical reference to children’s games such as snakes and ladders. The origin is not settled fact, though the expression is popularly said to derive from the board's layout, where a player who encounters a snake may find themselves returned to the very first square of the sequence.
Key words
Related idioms
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