Daschle ended his bid for health secretary after a mounting debate over his back taxes. Obama admitted to mistakes in handling the matter, saying: "I screwed up."
拉丁文alibi就是 elsewhere。它的俗話變成藉口是常用的。詳舉例處。
alibi
noun [C]
1 proof that someone who is thought to have committed a crime could not have done it, especially the fact or claim that they were in another place at the time it happened:
He has a cast-iron (= very strong) alibi - he was in hospital the week of the murder.
al・i・bi
━━ v. アリバイを立てる; 言い訳する.
2 an excuse for something bad or for a failure:
After eight years in power, the government can no longer use the previous government's policy as an alibi for its own failure.
al•i•bi (ăl'ə-bī')
n., pl. -bis.
1. Law.
a. A form of defense whereby a defendant attempts to prove that he or she was elsewhere when the crime in question was committed.
b. The fact of having been elsewhere when a crime in question was committed.
2. Usage Problem. An explanation offered to avoid blame or justify action; an excuse.
v. Usage Problem., -bied, -bi•ing, -bis.
v.intr. 這是20世紀才開始的用法。有許多人不以為然，詳後。
To make an excuse for oneself.
v.tr.
To make an excuse for (another).
[Latin, elsewhere, from alius, other (on the model of ibi, there).]
USAGE NOTE When used as a noun, alibi in its nonlegal sense of “an excuse” is acceptable in written usage to almost half of the Usage Panel. As a verb (they never alibi), it is unacceptable in written usage to a large majority of the Panel.
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Sue Grafton: author of alphabetical detective novels, starting with A is For Alibi through S is For Silence (66)
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Maureen Dowd: History as an Alibi
When presidents have screwed up and want to console themselves, they think history will give them a second chance.
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This is part of the last and most crucial "how to do it" requirement: the courage to go through with logical decisions—despite all pleas to give this or that product another chance, and despite all such specious alibis as the accountant's "it absorbs overhead" or the sale's manager's "we need a full product line." (Of course, these are not always unfounded alibis, but the burden of proof of every alibi rests with those that plead it.) It would be nice if I did, but unfortunately I know of no procedure or checklist for managerial
courage.
--Peter Drucker
(specious
adjective FORMAL DISAPPROVING
seeming to be right or true, but really wrong or false:
a specious argument/claim
specious allegations/promises)
space cadet
noun
- 1.a trainee astronaut.
- 2.informala person regarded as being out of touch with reality."it's not surprising that the British rock press has her down as a major space cadet"
Urban Dictionary: space cadet
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=space%20cadet
A person who tends to space out often. He or she does not respond when directly spoken to. The space cadet is not necessarily a person of low intelligence or a ...The noun space cadet has one meaning:
Meaning #1: someone who seems unable to respond appropriately to reality (as if under the influence of some narcotic drug)
n. Slang.
One who shows difficulty in grasping reality or in responding appropriately to it; a spacy person: “the screwups and the space cadets—in other words, the fringe element” (Linda Ellerbee).
Space Cadet在科幻小說中通常指「少男、少女太空人」或「正在受訓的太空人」；開始自以《星艦戰將》（Starship Troopers）等書聞名的科幻大師海萊因（Robert A. Heinlein）1948年Space Cadet一書。但Space Cadet另有「看起來像脫離現實，好像嗑藥，或是瘋瘋癲癲、古怪不正常」之意--《牛津科幻小說辭典》 發現美麗新字彙
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Wikipedia article "Space Cadet".
screwy
ˈskruːi/
adjective
NORTH AMERICANinformal
- rather odd or eccentric."my uncles were screwy old guys who had abandoned everyday life"
screw (sth) up (MISTAKE) phrasal verb [M] INFORMAL
to make a mistake, or to spoil something:
I reckon I screwed the chemistry exam up totally.
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