Back to Square One (A Popular English Idiom) | Learn American English in 1 Minute a Day

Back to square one is a popular English idiom. It means to start over with something. Watch the video to find out more about it. Back to square one meaning: Starting at the beginning again. Back to square one origin: It came from the days when people listened to soccer on the radio. Square one refers to the goal area. The commentator would often say back to square one because of all the passes back to the goaltender and free kicks when the ball goes out of bounds. It was often said with frustration because it's boring to just pass the ball back to the goaltender instead of going on the offensive. Back to square one examples: "Well, we're back to square one on that project. Tim rejected our first attempt." "I'm back to square one on my thesis proposal. My advisor recommended against what I had in mind." --------------------------------------- Another popular American idiom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXgwNIMG1-s -------------------------------------- Want to find out more? Check out: https://eslspeaking.org/american-english-idioms/ The Big Book of American Idioms: https://amzn.to/3o6YxZi https://www.facebook.com/eslspeaking https://www.pinterest.ca/eslspeaking/ #englishidiomsandphrases #learningenglishwithjackie #englishidioms #idiomsandphrases #speakenglish ---------------------------------------- Learn English here: https://eslspeaking.org/confusing-words-in-english/ --------------------------------------- More idioms from @English In General https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJS77wXttpI --------------------------------------- Transcript for back to square one idiom: Hi everybody, this is Jackie from esleaking.org. So today's idiom is, back to square one. Back to square one. This comes from soccer or football when they used to do it on the radio, announcing on the radio and maybe before tv times. The goalie box is square one. So if a defenseman or someone kicks it back to the goalie, the radio announcer would say, back to square one. It means back to the goalie and they would often say back to square one because it was boring. It's boring to watch if you're kicking it back to your goalie. It means starting over or beginning. So here's an example: "How was the project?" "We're back to square one. We're starting over again." If you like this video please hit like, subscribe, leave a comment and also be sure to check out the Big Book of American Idioms.