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French Expression
| Meaning | to forgive and forget, let bygones be bygones, wipe the slate clean | |
| Literally | to pass the sponge | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[pah say lay po(n)zh] |
| IPA | [pa se le pɔ̃ʒ] | |
Usage notes: The French phrase passer l’éponge literally means to clean something by wiping a sponge over it. This isn’t a million miles away from the idiomatic meaning of wiping the slate clean: to forgive some offense and let bygones be bygones.
Par exemple…
| Je suis vraiment désolé, on peut passer l’éponge ? | I’m really sorry, can we wipe the slate clean? | |
| Bien qu’il m’ait insulté, j’ai passé l’éponge. | Even though he insulted me, I forgave him. |
Note that the helping verb in the second example is avoir, not être, due to the direct object éponge.
Synonyms
- excuser
- oublier
- pardonner
- recommencer à zéro
- repartir à neuf
- repartir à zéro
- reprendre à zéro
Related lessons
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