Reader's question: "Economic data in September shows a V-shaped recovery across the board," added Nomura International (HK) in a report. Could you explain “across the board”?

My comments:

Picture a blackboard, over which the teacher writes for the class to see. If the teacher writes across the blackboard, his or her writing covers the whole board, from this end to the other. That means it covers every area of the board.

Hence if something happens “across the board”, it covers every place. In the above example, when the recovery is “shown across the board”, it is tangible in all areas of the economy.

The board also stands for a group of people, such as “board of directors” of a company. If something happens “across the board” then, it affects everyone in a particular group. For example: The government raises pay for school teacher across the board – that means every teacher gets it, young or old, male or female.

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Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.