a record unmarred by discreditable
acts or failures.
n. a new start or fresh chance, sometimes after
offenses or debts of the
past have been handled or forgiven; a record of creditable conduct without
errors or bad deeds. This nineteenth-century
idiom comes from the
use of slates and chalk in schoolrooms and taverns. (
Slate is a
type of dark-
colored rock that splits easily into
flat plates, used to write on with chalk.)
Children used to do
class assignments on slates and by wiping their
slate clean they were rid of any
evidence of a mistake. In taverns the
slate was used to keep
track of debts owed by
customers. Once the
debt was
paid, it would be wiped off the
slate and the
customer had a "clean
slate."