go back to the drawing board
意味一覧 (2件)
計画を練り直す
解説 Definition
失敗した案やうまく機能しない計画を、初期段階に戻して考え直すという意味です。仕事・設計・企画・交渉などで、既存案を少し直すだけでなく、根本から作り直す場面によく使われます。
This idiom means to return to the beginning of a plan because the first idea failed or did not work well. It is used when small changes are not enough and you need to think about the whole plan again. People often use it in work, design, business, or negotiations when they must create a new approach from the basic stage.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
drawing board は「設計図を描く台」です。go back to ... は「…へ戻る」なので、完成品や実行段階ではなく、設計を考える場所まで戻るイメージで覚えると自然です。単にもう一度試す try again より、案・計画・設計を根本から見直すニュアンスがあります。plan, proposal, design, prototype などと一緒に出やすい表現です。既存の「やり直す」より対象が計画に寄ります。
Picture a drawing board as the place where a plan is first drawn. If you go back to the drawing board, you are not just trying again, you are returning to the design stage. This idiom often appears with words like plan, proposal, design, and prototype, so it strongly suggests rebuilding the idea from the beginning.
例文
The first proposal was too expensive, so we had to go back to the drawing board.
最初の提案は高すぎたので、計画を練り直さなければならなかった。
After the app kept crashing in testing, the developers went back to the drawing board.
アプリがテストで何度も落ちたため、開発者たちは設計を根本から見直した。
The talks broke down again, and both sides may need to go back to the drawing board.
交渉はまた決裂し、双方とも案を最初から練り直す必要がありそうだ。
やり直す
(意味 2)解説 Definition
計画がうまくいかず、最初からやり直すこと。白紙に戻して再検討する。
Go back to the drawing board means to start again and make a new plan because the first idea did not work. It is used when a project, solution, or attempt fails and needs to be rethought. The expression is common in work, design, and problem-solving contexts.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
このエントリでは「計画を練り直す」という基本義ではなく、失敗したものを最初からやり直す感覚に注目します。drawing board は設計の出発点なので、途中の小さな修正ではなく、前の試みをいったん捨てて初めから組み直す場面を思い浮かべると定着します。start over に近いですが、企画や設計の失敗を背景にした「白紙からのやり直し」という含みがあります。
Imagine an engineer going back to the table where the first design was made. This idiom is not just `try again`; it means returning to the planning stage and making a new plan. It is easy to remember with contexts like products, projects, or negotiations that failed.
例文
The design wasn't working, so we had to go back to the drawing board.
デザインがうまくいかなかったので、最初からやり直さなければならなかった。
After the product failed market testing, the team went back to the drawing board.
製品が市場テストに失敗した後、チームは一からやり直した。
Our first approach didn't work, but that's okay—we'll go back to the drawing board.
最初のアプローチはうまくいかなかったが、大丈夫だ。やり直そう。
go back to the drawing board の語源・成り立ち Etymology
drawing board は設計者が図面を描く台のこと。1941年の漫画で広まった表現とされ、失敗後に設計の出発点へ戻る発想から「計画を練り直す」の意味になった。
A drawing board is the board engineers and designers used to draw plans on. The expression became widely known from a 1941 cartoon. The idea is that after failure, you must return to the place where the design first began.
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