Severely criticise translated tales (5)

I believe the answer is:

slate

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'severely criticise' is the definition.
'slate' can be an answer for 'criticise' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'severely' bit.

'translated tales' is the wordplay.
'translated' indicates an anagram.
'tales' is an anagram of 'SLATE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for slate that I've seen before include "Rubbish" , "Blast" , "Metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers" , "Small blackboard - for deferred payments" , "list of candidates" .)

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