on the drawing board

O

on/off the drawing board

Meaning

  • in the initial planning or design stage.
  • a proposal, scheme, or idea under consideration that still needs to be put into practice.
  • being considered or prepared.

Example Sentences

  1. The manager raised the second item on his agenda, admitting it was still on the drawing board.
  2. This is one of the firm’s several projects on the drawing board.
  3. The thermal power project is hardly off the drawing board.
  4. As the government’s plan to enhance air quality remains on the drawing board, citizens are still getting sick from air pollution.
  5. We have several ideas for increasing revenue, but they are on the drawing board.
  6. This is the second industrial estate on the drawing board.
  7. The proposal is on the drawing board, and it is something we’ll consider.
  8. The new product is still on the drawing board.
  9. The European Union’s foreign policy job is not yet off the drawing board.
  10. The plan has been on the drawing board for several years.

Origin

This idiom describes something that is in the design or drawing stage. Drawing boards are flat, large tables used for drawing or designing things. Their tops can be moved to different positions to suit the users. Projects, ideas, or designs are said to be on the drawing board when people are still considering their viability.

When a person comes up with a possibly viable idea, it moves to the initial planning stage. The plan proceeds from being an idea, and that’s when people start to consider its practicality, either formally or in a casual discussion. They examine the proposal’s possible benefits and weigh the merits against the demerits. They put all of them on paper, and the idea goes on the drawing board.

It appears that the idiom was coined in the early 1700s, around 1715–1725.

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