back to basics

See also: back-to-basics

English

Alternative forms

• back-to-basics

Etymology

From back + to + basics.

Adverb

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:

     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.

Noun

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.

See also

• Victorian values