This video will show you in 3 minutes the idiom “Back to the Drawing Board – Meaning in a Sentence” through 3 interesting illustrated sentence examples. Combining images with the idiom will help you put this common English idiom into long-term memory.

Here is a transcript of the video: “The Meaning of BACK to the DRAWING BOARD”

Slide 2:
The meaning of:
BACK to the DRAWING BOARD

something you tried was unsuccessful and you need to start again, or go back to the planning stage

The clipart shows a technical, or engineering drawing board.

Let’s consider 3 interesting examples taken from modern history where initial design attempts failed and the engineers or inventors had to start again or make major changes to the original design before they enjoyed success. You may find the 3rd example especially interesting.

Slide 3:
First, the picture shows American aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright flying a glider in 1902.

The sentence reads: Orville and Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneers, suffered repeated failures and often had to go back to the drawing board to adjust their plans, before making a successful flight on December 17, 1903.

In other words, they had to return to the planning stage on a number of occasions and make adjustments.

Slide 4:
In the next example we see the top of a soft drinks can.

The sentence reads: American engineer, Ermal Fraze, first designed a self-opening can which unfortunately was a little dangerous as it left sharp edges. After going back to the drawing board, he revised the product and created the ring-pull tab.

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Slide 6:
In the third example we see an aerosol spray of the popular lubricant named WD-40.

The sentence reads: WD-40 started out as a rust-prevention solvent and degreaser in the aerospace industry. WD stands for Water Displacement.

Employees at the Rocket Chemical Company went back to the drawing board 39 times, until they were successful on the 40th attempt. Hence the name, WD-40.

Slide 7:
So remember, if you need to start something again because an attempt has failed, or you need to go back to the planning stage and make a change, you can say:
“Oh well, back to the drawing board!”

Slide 8:
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Slide 10:
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Image Credits

Slide 3 – glider
Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1902_Wright_glider_turns.jpeg

Slide 4 – soft drink can
Royalty Free
Courtesy of NourRomeo at Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/photos/drink-beverage-can-tin-can-5700089/

Slide 5 – WD-40
Creative Commons
ZooFari, CC BY 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WD-40_Smart_Straw.JPG

Regarding the use of illustrations and photographs used in this video:

Creative Commons Attribution Licence
Others are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it if they give credit to the creator or source.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Public Domain
Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Public domain status allows the user unrestricted access and unlimited creativity. These are typically very old works.

Royalty Free
The image may be used for almost any business, personal, educational or charitable purpose as long as a credit is published to the creator of the image.

If you are interested in “back to the drawing board”, its meaning and use in a sentence, be sure to check this idiom and make it a part of your English vocabulary:
Turn Over a New Leaf – Meaning in a Sentence