back to square one

[manutdstott]

where does the saying back to square one come from & who said it, it must come from somewhere.

[rekstout]

My guess is that it relates to simple board games such as snakes and ladders where to return to the beginning is to go back to square one.

[sft42]

It comes from the days when football was only broadcast on radio a station (can't remember which one) gave out a board which had numbered squares to better help the listeners keep up with the action. So whenever a goal was scored the ball came back to square one which was the center spot of the pitch

[mikewith]

sft42 is right - it's from the BBC football commentaries of the 1930s.

[Spellmaster]

And as sft42 knows perfectly well, it's centre, not center in the UK. If sft42 is American, then fine. If he's British, then shame on him for abandoning perfectly good British spellings and slavishly adopting unneccessary Americanism. That'll wind him up.

[mikewith]

Spellmaster presupposes that sft42 is male, judging by that answer. I'd suggest that is a far more worrying, upsetting and ill-mannered mistake than adding a few stray apostrophe's or American spellings.

[Dsg]

Surely, there is no need for an apostrophe in apostrophes.

[rja211077]

I feel strangely compelled to point out that unnecessary has only one c.

[manutdstott]

I cant help feel sorry for some people who dont seem to have anything better to do than check someones spelling. But thanks to the answer of m original question (back to square one) gosh i do hope I'v spelt everything correctly here.

[sft42]

Spelmuster, yer jist like clockwork. Dinnae pit it oan tae me thit ye cannae see wind-up like yoan. Awa an play way the buses ya dunderheid.

[sft42]

I have just noticed one further point old bean that I must bring to the attention of all the users. As spelmuster is aware I'm not American and I'm not British. I'm Scottish nothing more, nothing less. So if that was designed to wind me up well done but I think asserting your national identity is more important than spelling. How did this all start by the way?????

[Gary Larkins]

Square one wasn't the center spot, as radio listerners had a card split into eight ( I belive) sections. Square One was top left corner so when the goal keeper, playing left to right, placed the ball for a goal kick to his left side of the goal That was square one. The opposite corner was Square eight.