Erase / clean the blackboard

[wittgen]

Hello to all the community,

I've recently been taken a look, in WR, for solving a doubt I had. And I read that "erase the blackboard" is a correct expression.

But asking the same question to a British teacher she told me that's incorrect. And I should say "clean the blackboard."

Could a native confirm that, please?

Thank you,

 

[iribela]

Hi. I'm not a native, but it's been a while since you posted your question.
I have seen "clean the blackboard" (not in AE).
Saludos.

 

[sound shift]

You can't erase a blackboard; you can only erase the writing that's on the blackboard.

 

[iribela]

You can't erase a blackboard; you can only erase the writing that's on the blackboard.

And yet, that's how I've always heard it in the US. Maybe it's just to abbreviate.
In Spanish, we don't erase the actual blackboard either, just whatever is written on it.
It's also used figuratively (erase a memory) but you can't do that either...
Interesting!

 

[sound shift]

Well, I've never heard "erase the blackboard" in the UK; I'm confident that it would not be considered correct here.

 

[chileno]

Well, I've never heard "erase the blackboard" in the UK; I'm confident that it would not be considered correct here.

What' the phrase do you use in the UK?

 

[sound shift]

"Clean the blackboard", "Wipe the blackboard clean".

 

[chileno]

Thank you Sir!

 

[iribela]

Since this is the Spanish-English forum, we should add "borrar/limpiar el pizarrón/la pizarra."