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Business English vocabulary · Office Idioms and Phrases

Back to the drawing board

Meaning in business english, with examples

idiomCommon term

In business english, back to the drawing board means: Used when a plan or idea has failed or been rejected and you have to start again and come up with a new one.

In Turkish: en baştan başlamak, sil baştan, yeniden plan yapmak

How it is used

Said after a rejection or failure: 'The client hated the concept, so it's back to the drawing board.' Informal but common in meetings. A drawing board is the table designers and architects used for drawing plans.

Example sentences

  1. Management rejected our plan, so it's back to the drawing board.

  2. If the test results are bad, we'll have to go back to the drawing board.

Common collocations

  • go back to the drawing board
  • it's back to the drawing board
  • send something back to the drawing board
  • proposalA formal plan or offer, written or spoken, that is put forward for others such as a client or management to consider and accept.
  • get the ball rollingTo start an activity, process or discussion, often by being the first person to do or say something.
  • drop the ballTo make a mistake by forgetting or failing to do something that you were responsible for.
  • pitchA short, persuasive presentation or speech that tries to convince someone to buy a product, approve an idea or invest in a business.

More terms: Office Idioms and Phrases

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