Timeline for How is "from the top" synonymous to "from square one"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
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| Jul 20, 2021 at 18:36 | comment | added | gidds | Another possibility (and the one I learned) is that it relates to the early days of BBC radio commentary for football matches, which divided the pitch into numbered regions, and so “back to square one” would mean that the ball had returned to the area in front of the home team's goal. But it seems there's little evidence for that phrase actually being used, and it isn't known in print until 1952, long after those visual aids were abandoned. | |
| Jul 13, 2019 at 2:15 | vote | accept | CommunityBot | moved from User.Id=88427 by developer User.Id=155216 | |
| Jul 11, 2019 at 1:51 | comment | added | J.R.♦ | @Jasper - More likely Snakes and Ladders, perhaps? From Etymonline.com: Square one "the very beginning" (often what one must go back to) is from 1960, probably a figure from board games. | |
| Jul 11, 2019 at 1:38 | comment | added | Jasper | Is "from square one" related to the children's game of "hop-scotch"? | |
| Jul 11, 2019 at 1:07 | history | answered | katatahito | CC BY-SA 4.0 |