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back to basics - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From back + to + basics.

back to basics (not comparable)

  1. back to fundamental principles

    You can't teach them calculus when they can't add up; let's get back to basics.

    • 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman‎[1]:

      While Strachan’s men have succeeded in adopting a more expansive, fluid style of play in recent times, it was very much a case of back to basics for this one.

back to basics (uncountable)

  1. (politics, chiefly British) A conscious return to principles such as self-respect, decency and honesty; especially the discredited policy of the Conservative government in the 1990s.