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Reader question: Please explain “road map” in this sentence: We have a road map to get back to profitability. My comments: They have a detailed plan, in other words. A road map here is a metaphor. What they have is not a map of roads, but instead a clear and detailed business plan to get back to profitability. Suppose the company’s been losing money and are now looking for more money from the bank to keep them afloat. The bank doesn’t want to keep lending to this company, of course, for obvious reasons – the bank runs the risk of losing a lot if this company one day, say, goes bankrupt. In this situation, what the company needs is a road map to profitability in order to convince the bank to lend them more money. Back to the road map. A road map, as name suggests, is a map that lists all the roads, high ways and streets in a region or country. Now if you are a traveler into a new territory, you’ll need a road map in the literal sense. A road map allows you to know which routes to take to get to where you want to go. Without a road map, as you can imagine, you’ll be just be wandering – without getting anywhere in particular. Without a road map, that is, you may never reach your destination. Without a map, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself in the middle of nowhere. Without a road map, in short, you’ve got to have GPS. I’m kidding, of course, as I am not one who puts a lot of store by technology. Even if you do trust GPS, come to think of it, GPS only gives you an idea of where you are and where a certain place is, but you still need a road map telling you which roads to take and where to make the correct turns. | 
