By definition, a track is a narrow path with a rough surface, usually made by people or animals frequently walking along it. A beaten track is a well-trodden one. Off the beaten track, which means in a remote place where few people go, has become one of the most overused clichés in travel writing. In a figurative sense, the beaten track refers to the ordinary or usual way of doing something: To avoid risks, many enterprises tend to keep to the beaten track and are reluctant to venture into new markets. A track also means the metal bars that a train moves along. Idioms derived from this meaning include on the right/wrong track, which means doing something in a way that will bring good/bad results or thinking in the right/wrong way.

The word “track” can be used to form verbs that describe the development of things. To fast-track something means to speed up the progress or make things happen earlier than expected. To backtrack is to change an opinion or withdraw a promise. Note that this word should go together with the preposition “on” or “from” when followed by a direct object: The billionaire backtracked on his earlier claim to donate half of his fortune to charity. To sidetrack is to distract or be distracted from the main point: The debate on the reform was sidetracked by an argument over a speaker’s choice of words.

There are moments in life when we are confronted with the question of whether to take the high road, the path of honesty and morality, or the low road, the path of deceit and immorality. The former may be more difficult or challenging, but it would usually turn out to be more rewarding. Yet there are choices that are not about right or wrong, but about old or new. In a dilemma over whether to take an old route or explore a new path, rather than boiling decisions down to “either/or” options, we can seek the third way out by taking the middle road, i.e. choosing a course of action between two extremes.

Railroad is the American equivalent to railway in British English. As a verb, it means forcing others to do something against their wish: He was railroaded by his family into taking a job he did not want. In a similar vein, to railroad through means forcing something to happen: Even though the scheme was not yet ready, it was railroaded through to meet the shortened deadline.

In the long journey of life, there are inevitable moments when we feel like we have run out of road, reaching a point where we can no longer move forward. As long as there is a will to turn things around, it is never too late to get things back on track.