General
tens across the board
What does tens across the board mean?
The dream call at a ball: every judge throws up a 10, you sweep the panel and move forward, no chops. It's the ballroom version of a flawless victory, and the phrase has spread well beyond the scene as shorthand for perfection — used the way you'd say something scored a perfect 10. So iconic it's been borrowed as the title of essays and pieces on ballroom history itself.
"The walk was so clean she got tens across the board — not a single chop."
Origin
Ballroom scoring language, where a panel of judges rates each walk; a clean sweep of 10s is the top result.
Frequently asked questions
What does tens across the board mean?
It's a perfect score — a 10 from every judge, with no debate, and you advance.
How do you use tens across the board in a sentence?
"That routine was flawless — tens across the board."
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