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EyeSeeYou Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

IDIOM meaning "to make excuses" needed

Are there any phrases conveying the idea of making excuses to cover yourself when you see that what you stated before may not materialize or have the result you predicted?

In Spanish, in Argentina, there's an idiom for this -- "abrir el paraguas" (literally, "to open (up) the umbrella").
  

Top answer

" or "I really thought it would be on time. " These depend on how bothered the listener is that I was wrong. If you are my good friend, I might just say, "Oops!

— Bob Collins

  • " or "I really thought it would be on time.
  • " These depend on how bothered the listener is that I was wrong.
  • If you are my good friend, I might just say, "Oops!
  • ".
  • " let me know if this fits.
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4 Answers
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I'm not exactly sure I'm following your question, but let's try this:

If I told you the plane would be here at 1:00 for sure, but it was late, I'd probably say either, "Well, I sure missed that!" or "I really thought it would be on time. Sorry!" These depend on how bothered the listener is that I was wrong. If you are my good friend, I might just say, "Oops! Stupid plane's late again!". H
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Well, there's the phrase "cover your a ss," but obviously it's slang -- I'm not sure if there's a more polite version.
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@ Bob: that's the idea but I was looking for an idiom, something similar to what Khoff wrote but polite.
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"Cover yourself" is heard sometimes, and also "cover your bases" (which comes from baseball -- it means to guard all the spots where someone might take advantage of you if you are unwary.)
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