TURN OVER A NEW LEAF – Meaning in a Sentence

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Idiom: Turn Over a New Leaf – Meaning

Here is a transcript of the video: “The Meaning of TURN OVER A NEW LEAF”

Slide 2:
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Slide 3:
The meaning of:
TURN OVER A NEW LEAF

to change behaviour in a positive, better, more acceptable way; to start over

Synonyms:
reform
improve
change
amend

The clipart shows an arrow going in one direction, and then going in the opposite direction, a change in course.

Slide 4:
Note: the leaf in the idiom is NOT the leaf of a tree.

Rather, it refers to the page of a book. One of the definitions of the word ‘leaf’ is: a sheet of paper bound in a book.

Slide 5:
So the sense is that of turning a page in a book, to a new blank page.

In other words, making a fresh start, changing course.

Let’s look at 2 illustrated sentence examples.

Slide 6:
In the picture, we see a young man handcuffed, being escorted by a police officer.

The sentence reads: After being arrested by the police, he promised his family he would turn over a new leaf, and stay out of trouble.

In other words, the young man promised his family he would change his behaviour in a positive way. He would start over.

Slide 7:
In the picture we see a young man smiling and greeting his friend who is habitually late.

Sentence example: When his friend showed surprise that he arrived on time, he said: “I’ve decided I’m going to try not to be late anymore. I’ve turned over a new leaf.”

In other words, the friend is going to start over and change his behaviour in order to be more punctual.

Slide 8:
So remember, if you change your habits or behaviour in a positive way, you can say: “I’ve turned over a new leaf!”

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Image Credits

Slide 6 – young man with police officer
Royalty Free
Courtesy of Breedstock at Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-arrest-police-security-8701423/

Slide 7 – young man smiling
Royalty Free
Courtesy of Frank_Reppold at Pixabay
https://unsplash.com/@good_funeral_guide

Regarding the use of illustrations and photographs used in this video:

Royalty Free
The image may be used for almost any business, personal, educational or charitable purpose as long as a credit is published to the creator of the image.

If you are interested in the meaning of TURN OVER A NEW LEAF, and seeing TURN OVER A NEW LEAF in a sentence, be sure to check another entry in the English Idioms dictionary:
Idiom: The Meaning of THROUGH THICK AND THIN

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