【原】back to square one，重新开始

back 是一个词性非常多的单词，之前学习的关于 back 的习语有：back against the wall 和 back door，还有今天的 back to square one，它的寓意就基本上是它的本意了，可以意为”回到起点，回到原点，重新开始，重起炉灶“，寓意：

return to where one started from

回到起点

back to the beginning

回到开头

return to the starting point, start all over again

回到起点，重新开始

start again from the beginning because previous attempt failed

由于上一次尝试失败，重新从头开始

例如：

The Government and the State Bank spent years strengthening the nation's economy but the recession and slowdown extremely dragged its feet, so we are back to square one.

政府国家银行花了数年时间来加强国家经济，但经济的衰退和放缓极大地拖了后腿，所以我们又回到了原点。

解析：spend + 时间（钱或精力等）doing sth 表示花费时间（钱或精力等）做某事。

Having tried to solve the problem for quite some time, we were back to square one when none of our solutions worked.

虽然我们试图解决这个问题已经有一段时间了，但当我们的解决方案都不起作用时，我们又回到了原点。

解析：现在分词 Having tried to solve the problem for quite some time 作状语，表示让步。

The local authorities had repaired the roads a few month ago, but heavy rains damaged them again, so we are back to square one.

地方当局几个月前已经修好了道路，但是大雨又把它们损坏了，所以我们又回到了原点。

解析：动作 repair 发生动作 damaged 这个动作之前，所以 repair 往前挪一个时态用过去完成时 had repaired，表示过去的过去。

The opposing parties had been trying to come to a compromise, but when the negotiations broke down, they were back to square one.

反对党一直试图达成妥协，但谈判破裂后，他们又回到了原点。

解析：动作 try 发生在动作 broke down 之前，所以 try 往前挪一个时态用过去完成时，由于这个动作是 broke down 之前一直进行的动作，所以最终用过去完成进行时。