go-to excuse
- noun
- /ˈɡoʊˌtu ɪkˈskjus/
- Informal
:
excusa habitual
- Forgetting to set her alarm is her go-to excuse when she misses meetings.
Examples
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Whenever he is late to work, his go-to excuse is traffic on the highway.
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Claiming his phone died has become his go-to excuse for not responding to messages.
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His go-to excuse for being late is traffic.
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She always uses the same go-to excuse for missing meetings.
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His go-to excuse for being late is that there was traffic on the road.
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Whenever she forgot to complete her homework, her go-to excuse was that her computer crashed.
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Most people have a go-to excuse for not attending family gatherings, often citing work commitments.
How Habitual
- Informal
8
5.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
go-to + excuse
The noun 'excuse' is transparent, and 'go-to' can be derived from the phrase 'go to' meaning 'turn to' or 'default choice', so a learner who knows the constituents can plausibly infer 'an excuse you habitually turn to'. However, 'go-to' is an adjectivalized, slightly idiomatic extension of 'go to' (often hyphenated) and relies on recognizing that metaphorical use, so the meaning is not fully predictable for all B1 learners without prior exposure.
Etymology
Go-to excuse: The noun go-to excuse comes from the image of something you always go-to, like a tool on a shelf you use first. Your usual excuse is the thing you keep returning to, so it means 'a reason you often use'.