IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchFaire table rase
Meaning: To sweep everything away and start from nothing.
Literally: To make a scraped table
Example: “Le nouveau directeur a fait table rase des anciennes méthodes.” — The new director swept away the old methods and started with a clean slate.
English equivalent: A clean slate
Equivalents in other languages
English: clean slate
Origin: From the Latin tabula rasa, the wax tablet smoothed flat so it could be written on again. Locke's use of it for the mind is later than the phrase and separate from it.
More French idioms
- Prendre le taureau par les cornes To tackle a difficulty head-on instead of avoiding it.
- Les vaches maigres A period of hardship and scarcity — the opposite of les vaches grasses.
- Les vaches grasses A period of plenty.
- Aller comme un tablier à une vache To suit someone appallingly badly.
- Adorer le veau d'or To make money one's god.
- Une tunique de Nessus A gift that destroys the person who accepts it.
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