By Daniel, ESL Educator & Idiom Series Author
Some idioms are centuries old, and nobody remembers who said them first. This one is different. We can point to the exact magazine page where it appeared: The New Yorker, 1 March 1941.
Quick answer: To go back to the drawing board means to start planning again from the beginning, because your first idea or attempt didn’t work.
The cartoon that started it
The cartoonist was Peter Arno, one of The New Yorker’s best-known artists. According to The Phrase Finder and Word Histories, his cartoon shows an airplane that has just crashed nose-first into the ground. Soldiers and ground crew are running toward the smoking wreck, and the pilot is coming down by parachute. Meanwhile, a man in ordinary clothes, the plane’s designer, calmly walks away with a roll of plans under his arm. The caption:
“Well, back to the old drawing board.”
The joke works because of the contrast. Everyone else is in a panic. The designer simply accepts that his idea failed and goes back to his desk to try again.
The line caught on quickly. The word historian Pascal Tréguer found the newspaper columnist Samuel Grafton using “Back to the old drawing board” in March 1942, and a few weeks later Grafton mentioned Arno’s cartoon directly. The Phrase Finder reports that the expression was appearing in U.S. newspapers by 1947, and by 1966 it was well known enough to be the title of an episode of the TV comedy Get Smart.
What is a drawing board, anyway?
Before computers, engineers, architects and designers drew their plans by hand on a large, flat, often tilted board. That’s where every new building, machine or airplane began. So going “back to the drawing board” means returning to the very first step: the blank page.
The tone is the secret
A dictionary will tell you what this idiom means. It won’t tell you how it feels. Remember the designer in the cartoon: he isn’t crying. That calm, slightly humorous attitude is still part of the phrase today.
- People usually say it about their own failed plan, often with a small sigh or a smile: “Well, back to the drawing board!”
- It suggests you’ll try again. It’s about starting over, not giving up.
- Many speakers keep Arno’s word “old”: “back to the old drawing board.” It sounds friendly and a little jokey.
- Be careful saying it to someone else about their work. “Your plan is going back to the drawing board” can sound like a harsh rejection, especially from a boss.
Grammar notes
- Common verbs: go back to, head back to, send something back to the drawing board.
- You can drop the verb completely: “The client hated it. Back to the drawing board.”
- Always keep “the”: not “back to drawing board.”
- It’s used everywhere, from casual chat to business meetings and news headlines.
Two short examples
At home:
Leo: How was the cake?
Maya: It sank in the middle. Completely flat.
Leo: Oh no. What now?
Maya: Back to the drawing board. I’m trying a different recipe tomorrow.
At work:
“The customers didn’t like the new app design, so the team went back to the drawing board.”
Don’t confuse it with these
- back to square one: back to the beginning, usually with no progress made. It focuses on the lost progress. The drawing board focuses on the new plan.
- start from scratch: begin again with nothing prepared. Very close, and often interchangeable.
- throw in the towel: give up completely. This is the opposite attitude!
Once your new plan is ready, you’ll need to get the ball rolling again.
Your turn
Complete each sentence in your own words:
- “My first plan for learning English was ______, but it didn’t work, so I went back to the drawing board.”
- “The city’s new bus routes confused everyone, so the planners ______.”
Possible answers: 1. “…to memorize a dictionary…” 2. “…went back to the drawing board.”
A Note from Daniel
What I find most helpful about this idiom is the attitude behind it. Going back to the drawing board is not a crisis; it is a choice. It is a professional decision, formed by the same culture that created the drawing board in the first place—a culture that saw failure as part of the process and had a real, physical place ready for when things did not work out. The board was always there. Designers knew they might need it. When they did, they returned without fuss and started again. That seems like a good way to approach most things worth building. If you have a story about a time you had to go all the way back to the drawing board, and what happened on your second try, I would truly love to hear it.
Sources
- Martin, G. “Back to the drawing board.” The Phrase Finder. phrases.org.uk
- Tréguer, P. “Origin of ‘back to the drawing board.’” Word Histories, 2016. wordhistories.net
- Cambridge Dictionary, entry: “back to the drawing board.”
Every word carries a story. Stay curious. — Daniel