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I'm looking for an expression or slang for "becoming a new person, forget the things you knew, restart fresh" or something near these.

I'm doing a translation from Persian to English and the literal translation is "coming out of your grave" like your thoughts and believes are like grave and to be alive you have to let go.

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  • All of those are idiomatic and informal English; you need to decide which one is suitable for your needs. It helps if you can describe the context in which you are seeking these terms, preferably without relying on the reader knowing any Persian (Farsi?).
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Feb 6, 2018 at 15:49
  • TNX, the context is also in Persian :(((
    – H Mac
    Feb 6, 2018 at 16:12
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    If you could tell us the literal translation, as close as you can manage, of the original phrase and the sentence it appears in that would be helpful. It doesn't need to be a "good" translation, just enough to give us a sense of the context--for instance, whether it's a casual conversation or a bit of philosophical poetry or an academic treatise, whether you want a term that is positive, negative, or neutral, and so forth.
    – 1006a
    Feb 6, 2018 at 18:07
  • Well it literally means "to get out of your grave" and the meaning is the things you think you know are wrong and they won't let you to understand the truth you have to put them aside, they are like a grave you have to get out of it if you want to be alive.
    – H Mac
    Feb 6, 2018 at 19:29
  • For those familiar with "Irregular Verbs" from the Yes, Minister TV show, there is ... I am going through a rebirthing process -/- you are having a mid-life crisis -/- he is totally losing the plot.
    – Ross Murray
    Feb 7, 2018 at 16:34

1 Answer 1

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Turning over a new leaf is an idiomatic English expression for making a fresh start and trying to improve:

To make a change for the better especially in one's way of living
from m-w.com

Make a fresh start, change one's conduct or attitude for the better
from The Free Dictionary

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  • This is absolutely the most common way to say this.
    – Lambie
    Feb 6, 2018 at 16:18
  • ...followed closely by "starting fresh" or "making a fresh start".
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Feb 6, 2018 at 16:19
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    @JeffZeitlin — "starting afresh" is the more common ideom. "starting fresh" can just mean getting to work after a good night's sleep. But it does not have all the implications of "turning over a new leaf".
    – David
    Feb 6, 2018 at 18:02

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