Vladimir Zakharov Jul 28, 2015:

Ha, This gives "wipe the slate clean" a whole new meaning :)

David Knowles Jul 28, 2015:

To Vladimir I'm flattered!
The slate here is one on which your debts are written (in chalk). So you could buy something in a (small) shop without any money and say "put it on the slate" or possibly "chalk it up". It reminds me of Пиковая дама: И выигрывали, И отисывали Мелом.
"Chalk it up" can also be used of a bad decision: "I'll just chalk it up to experience".

Vladimir Zakharov Jul 27, 2015:

Awesome I actually copypasted this to my personal thesaurus for future reference. Thank you, David!

David Knowles Jul 27, 2015:

Various options Here's my attempt as a native speaker to classify the various metaphors.

To paper over the cracks: to make a superficial attempt to resolve differences, but one which probably won't last.
To bury the past: to try to forget the past, but without any real attempt at reconciliation, so it may come back to haunt us.
To bury the hatchet: to make a real attempt at reconciliation
To wipe the slate clean: to make a conscious effort to forget past wrongs and start afresh.
To turn over a new leaf: tends to apply to a single person- I'll turn over a new leaf and stop drinking (etc.)
To turn the page in our relationship/start with a clean sheet/start afresh: another way of talking about a positive attempt to resolve things, not quite as strong as "wipe the slate clean", because the old pages still exist!