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Axe to grind. It's a hidden reason for wanting something or for not liking someone or something. Here's another example. Don't listen to Claudia, when she tells you how bad that teacher is. She has had an axe to grind since he failed her last year. In other words, he gave her a bad grade and probably because she deserved it. But now she's a little angry. Here's another one. Why do you keep telling me not to buy anything from that store? Do you really think they sell bad products? Or do you just have some kind of axe to grind? So maybe somebody had a bad experience somewhere and they don't recommend shopping in that store? any longer. back to square one. It means return to the beginning, right? The editor didn't like the article I wrote for the newspaper, she told me to redo it. So I guess I'll have to go back to square one. In other words, right back to the beginning. Hey, the builders constructed a building that didn't meet the city's requirements. Now they'll have to tear it down and begin building again, they're back to square one. So in other words, they have to start over. a synonym to that would be start from scratch. Back to the drawing board, it means to return to the planning stage of a project. Here's an example. Our plan to raise money for a new swimming pool didn't work. Now we're back to the drawing board in trying to think of a better plan. So we have to start over, don't we? The idea of buying computers for the public schools through the lottery failed, the city leaders had to go back to the drawing board to think of another way to come up with the money. Hey, you could compare that to the idiom back to square one. That expression originates from the idea that plans and designs are developed on a drawing board. Here's another to have ones back to the wall to be in a difficult or desperate situation. Here's an example. Here. He lost his job over a month ago and he's spent all his savings paying his bills. Now he doesn't have any more money and his back is to the wall. In other words, he doesn't have other choices that he knows about. Here's another example. My back was to the wall. It seemed like my only choices were to try and save the company with my personal savings or pull out and let the company go while I still had some money left. Hey, you could compare back to the wall with in a bind in a fix in a jam behind the eight ball. Here's another idiom backhanded compliment. It's a criticism that is phrased in such a way that it appears to be a compliment.  Here's an example Listen carefully. Patricia said she can't wear fake gold jewelry the way I can because it turns her skin green. And I think she was giving me a backhanded compliment. She was really letting everyone know that she wears real gold jewelry while the jewelry I have one is fake was not a very nice compliment is it? Here's another example. Paul is not a very nice person. He's always giving people backhanded compliments that sound like he's being nice when he's really just insulting them.

The term backhanded combines the meaning of back meaning insincere or malicious and hand meaning to give. Here's one I really like backseat driver, a person who gives driving orders when he or she is not the driver. Here's an example. Why must you tell me every time you see a red light ahead? I'm the one who's driving stop being a backseat driver. Here's another example. Andy's mother always made him nervous when he drove her to the store. She would tell him where to turn how fast to drive and where to park, she was a backseat driver. a side note to backseat driver is when cars were first developed in the 1920s. Wealthy car owners would often ride in the back seats, telling the drivers where to go, where