return to go

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   In board games, the instruction to move your piece back to the starting square and often miss a turn.

   Grammar: Used as a complete instruction or as a noun-like phrase: you land on it, you do not 'return to go' something.

   Patterns

   • land on return to go
   • get sent back to go

   She landed on the square marked return to go and had to start over.

   The card said return to go, so he lost his whole lead in one move.

2. 2phrasefixed phrasebusiness

   In business, the amount still needed to reach a target, or the point at which you start again from nothing.

   Grammar: Often used before a noun with hyphens, as in a return-to-go target; it works as a modifier rather than a verb.

   Patterns

   • return-to-go target
   • return-to-go figure
   • be back to return to go

   After the recall, the factory was back to return to go on its safety targets.

   Analysts asked how much return to go was left in the sales plan for the year.

3. 3phraseidiomfigurativeinformal

   To go back to the beginning of an activity or explanation and start it again.

   Grammar: Informal and figurative; the verb 'return' keeps its normal forms here (returned to go, returning to go).

   Patterns

   • return to go on something
   • have to return to go

   The teacher said we had to return to go and rebuild the argument from the first step.

   If the budget talks fail, both sides will return to go and negotiate the whole package again.

Common combinations

land on return to go

He landed on return to go and lost the game.

be back to return to go

After the delays, the project was back to return to go.

return-to-go target

The team set a return-to-go target for the next quarter.

send someone back to go

The card sent her back to go without collecting her winnings.

have to return to go

We had to return to go and check every figure again.

Synonyms and how they differ

back to square one

A general idiom for starting again; it is used far more widely than 'return to go', which is tied to board games and business targets.

start over

A plain verb phrase meaning begin again; it does not carry the board-game image or the business sense of remaining work.

Word family

return verb

to come or go back to a place or situation

go noun

the starting square in some board games, from which players set out

Commonly confused: return to go or go back?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “return to go”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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