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Alibi Ike

noun

Etymology

From the principal character in "Alibi Ike" (1915), a short story by Ring Lardner Sr., and a subsequent film (1935) of the same name.

Definitions

  1. One who is always ready to provide excuses for shortcomings, errors, or other…

    One who is always ready to provide excuses for shortcomings, errors, or other difficulties.

    • Many times I have heard the "alibi Ike's" and apologists brush off complaints and ignore behaviors because the deviator in question is too critical, too important, too tenured, or too something!
    • Now, I'm no Alibi Ike, Teddy, but I think that was my downfall.
    • There's no foulup so lame that keepers of the flame like Andrew Bacevich, the modern Alibi Ike, can't excuse, spin and downplay.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for Alibi Ike. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA