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Reader question: Please explain “clean slate” in this sentence: After the divorce, you can start a new life with a clean slate. My comments: It means that leaving a troubled marriage behind, the person may turn a new leaf or indeed a brand new chapter (of his/her life) without being burdened or restrained by their matrimony. Slate is a thin flat piece of rock used in olden times as a writing board. Naturally one prefers drawing on a clean slate. This is what Mao referred to as a “clean sheet”. “With a clean sheet,” he said, “and a clear mind (without being clouded by the past), one may draw the best picture yet.” He was talking about building a new, modern, democratic China after centuries of feudalism. Well, he meant well. In the example from the top, by having a clean slate after the divorce, the once-weds may put all their troubled relationship – all the quarrels, fights and guilty consciences etc – behind them, and start anew, with a new approach. In other words, with one swoop from signing the divorce papers, the couple will be able to “wipe the slate clean”. Easy for me to say, I know, because the past is very difficult, if not impossible, to erase from memory. But then again, that’s why clean slates are so keenly coveted in the first place. Anyways, here are media examples: 1. clean slate: | 
