square one
1
起点, 第一格
the point or situation from which one starts to do something
The idiom "square one" is believed to have originated in the game of Snakes and Ladders, where players who land on a snake's head are sent back to the beginning of the game. In modern usage, it can refer to any situation where a person or group has to start over from the beginning. It can apply to personal or professional contexts, and can refer to both minor and major setbacks.
- After the project failed, they had to go back to square one and rethink their strategy.
项目失败后，他们不得不回到起点并重新思考他们的策略。
- It feels like I'm at square one again after losing all my data.
感觉在丢失所有数据后，我又回到了起点。
- The team realized their plan wasn’t working and returned to square one.
团队意识到他们的计划没有奏效，于是回到了起点。
- Starting from square one, she began to build her career from scratch.
从零开始，她开始从头建立自己的职业生涯。
- Every time we encounter a major setback, we find ourselves back at square one.
每当我们遭遇重大挫折时，我们就会发现自己又回到了起点。