a)REPEATused when you want to get someone’s attention politely, especially when you want to ask a question 劳驾〔用于礼貌地引起他人注意,尤其是发问时〕
Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the museum please?
劳驾,请问去博物馆怎么走?
b)SORRY/APOLOGIZEused to say that you are sorry for doing something rude or embarrassing 对不起
Oh, excuse me. I didn’t know anyone was here.
噢,对不起,我不知道这里有人。
c)LET/ALLOWused to ask someone politely to move so that you can walkpast 借光,借过〔用于礼貌地请求别人让路〕
Excuse me, could I just squeeze past?
借光,请让我过去一下好吗?
d)LEAVE A PLACEused to politely tell someone that you are leaving a place 抱歉〔用于礼貌地表示要离开〕
Excuse me a moment. I’ll be right back.
抱歉,我失陪一会儿,马上就回来。
e)DISAGREEused when you disagree with someone but want to be polite about it 请原谅〔用于礼貌地表示反对〕SYN I’m sorry
Excuse me, but I don’t think that’s what he meant at all.
请原谅,不过我认为他绝对不是这个意思。
f)American EnglishAmESORRY/APOLOGIZE used to show that you disagree with someone or are very surprised or upset by what they have just said 请原谅,很抱歉〔用于表示不同意某人的意见或对其所说的话感到意外或不快〕
‘You’re going to pay, right?’ ‘Excuse me?’
“你来付钱,对吗?”“你说什么?”
g)especially American EnglishAmEREPEAT used to ask someone to repeat something that they have just said 请再说一遍SYN pardon me
‘What time is it?’ ‘Excuse me?’ ‘I asked you what time it is.’
“现在几点了?”“对不起,你说什么?”“我问你现在几点了。
Examples from the Corpus
excuse me• Answer, all I know is Sam and Diane were there, was there, excuse me.• Oh, excuse me. Did I mispronounce your name?• Excuse me for a minute. I'll be right back.• Oh excuse me, I am.• Oh, excuse me. I didn't know you were standing in line.• Excuse me - I didn't realize there was anyone in here.• If you will excuse me I must get back to lurking.• Excuse me. I need to get through.• Oh, excuse me, is that your bag I just stood on?• Excuse me. Is this the right bus to the airport?• Well, excuse me, M'Lud, there are other explanations.
2forgive 原谅FORGIVE to forgive someone for doing something that is not seriously wrong, such as being rude or careless 原谅〔某人的小错〕
I’ll excuse you this time, but don’t be late again.
这次我原谅你,但别再迟到了。
Please excuse my bad handwriting.
请原谅,我的字写得不好。
excuse somebody for (doing) something
Please excuse me for being so late today.
请原谅,我今天来得太晚了。
Smith can be excused for his lack of interest in the course (=his lack of interest is reasonable).
史密斯对这门课不感兴趣是情有可原的。
Register
In informal situations, people often say sorry about …, sorry for doing ... or sorry I … rather than asking someone to excuse something: 在非正式的场合中,人们常说 sorry about ...,sorry for doing ... 或sorry I...,而不说请某人excuse something
Sorry about my handwriting.
对不起,我的字写得不好。
Sorry for being so late, or Sorry I’m so late.
对不起,我来得太晚了。
3from a duty 免除责任LET/ALLOW to allow someone not to do something that they are supposed to do 免除〔某人〕的责任
be excused from (doing) something
Can I be excused from swimming today? I have a cold.
我今天能不游泳吗?我感冒了。
nGrammar
Excuse is usually passive in this meaning.
4explain 解释REASON to be or give a good reason for someone’s careless or offensivebehaviour 为…开脱;给…找理由
Nothing can excuse that kind of rudeness.
什么也无法为那种粗鲁行为开脱。
5from a place 离开某处LET/ALLOW to give someone permission to leave a place 准许…离开
May I please be excused from the table?
我可以离开饭桌了吗?
nGrammar
Excuse is usually passive in this meaning.
6excuse yourselfto say politely that you need to leave a place 礼貌地告辞
Richard excused himself and went to his room.
理查德礼貌地告辞,到自己的房间去了。
Examples from the Corpus
excuse yourself• Once, my eyes start to fill with tears and I excuse myself and go to find the bathroom.• Constance detected a change in the atmosphere as Giancarlo excused himself and walked down the steps to greet his last guest.• Richard excused himself and went to his room.• On the ground, when they had left the parkedplane, Myeloski excused himself and went to the men's room.• I excuse myself for this failure of perception, for I think he was concealing it even from himself.• He has excused himself from a dinner meeting to return her call.• She was sitting at the mirror in her room, having excused herself from her cousins' chatterminutes before.• I excused myself from Mr Cardinal and moved towards the doors.• They heard Paul excuse himself to go into the house.
7.excuse me (for living)!spokenOFFEND used to show that you are annoyed when someone has told you that you have done something wrong 实在对不住了!
excuse somebody for (doing) something• No excuses were offered for a lacklustreperformance on Saturday.• Then he excused himself for a meeting.• Kring excused himself for a moment.• Would you excuse me for a moment?• He himself had drunk one quick light beer before excusing himself for an early night.• You'll have to excuse me for being late - my car broke down.• The defenseexcused him for just cause.• People came and went and were excused, sometimes forobvious reasons, sometimes not.
4make your excusesEXPLAINto explain why you are not able to do something 解释为何不能做某事
Please make my excuses at the meeting tomorrow.
请在明天的会上替我解释一下不能到会的原因。
Examples from the Corpus
make your excuses• How dared he stand her up - and then get that woman to phone and make his excuses?• I made my excuses and departed soon after that.• I made my excuses and left before Grant Watson remembered I owed him an essay.• I made my excuses and left.• Valerie Jones made her excuses and left - she had had more than enough coffee.• Two-thirds of those summoned for jury service do not turn up, some making their excuses, some not bothering.• We made our excuses and left.• We make our excuses, in fact.
5a poor/rotten etc excuse for somethingBAD ATused when you think someone or something is very bad 极差的…;极不称职的…
He’s a rotten excuse for a lawyer. Why on earth did you hire him?
他是个极糟糕的律师,你到底为什么雇用他?
Examples from the Corpus
a poor/rotten etc excuse for something• But Tories have continued to attack, saying the scheme is a poor excuse forreal pedestrianisation.
6.American EnglishAmEREASON a note written by your doctor or one of your parents saying that you were ill on a particular day 病假条SYN British English sick note
COLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1 & 2
verbs
make up/think up/invent an excuse 编造借口
I made up some excuse about my car breaking down.
我编了个借口,说我的车抛锚了。
nWe’d better think up an excuse, fast.
make excuses for somebody/something (=give reasons which try to explain why someone has made a mistake or behaved badly) 为某人/某事找借口
His mother was always making excuses for her son's behaviour.
他妈妈总是为儿子的行为找借口。
use something as an excuse 拿某事物当借口
She never complained or used her illness as an excuse.
她从不抱怨,也不拿自己的病当借口。
look for an excuse 找借口
I began to look for excuses to avoid seeing him.
我开始寻找种种借口,避免和他见面。
give an excuse 给出理由
I'll have to give my boss some kind of excuse.
我总得给我老板一个理由。
believe/accept an excuse 相信/接受理由
She didn’t believe his excuse for one minute.
她压根儿不相信他的借口。
have an excuse 有理由
Companies have no excuse for breaking the law.
公司没有任何理由违反法律。
adjectives
a good excuse 好借口
A sunny day is a good excuse to go to the beach.
天气晴朗就应该到海滩去。
na wonderful excuse (=a very good excuse)
A wedding is a wonderful excuse to buy a new outfit.
a reasonable/plausible excuse (=one that other people will believe) 可以接受的/说得过去的理由
If your train was cancelled, that is a perfectly reasonable excuse.
要是你那班火车被取消了,那可就是个再好不过的理由。
a legitimate/valid excuse (=one that is true and that other people cannot criticize) 正当/合理的理由
He didn’t have a legitimate excuse for being late.
他迟到了,没有正当的理由。
the perfect excuse 极好的借口
The phone call gave me the perfect excuse to leave.
这个电话正好让我有借口离开。
a feeble/flimsy/weak excuse (=one that is difficult to believe) 无力/不可信的借口
Joe muttered some feeble excuse about having a headache.
乔嘟嘟哝哝地搪塞说他头痛。
a pathetic/lame excuse (=very weak) 牵强的/站不住脚的借口
nThat’s the most pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard.
the usual excuse/the same old excuse 惯常的借口/老一套借口
nHe made the usual excuses for not coming.
nWhenever the trains are late, it's always the same old excuse.
a convenient excuse 现成的借口
nThe rioting provided the government with a convenient excuse not to hold an election.
phrases
use every excuse in the book (=use every possible excuse) 千方百计找借口
He used every excuse in the book to avoid seeing the doctor.
他千方百计找借口不去看病。
at the slightest excuse (=for any reason, however unimportant) 以很小的事为借口
She comes to our house at the slightest excuse.
她动不动就借故到我们家来。
Examples from the Corpus
excuse• We shall use his perceived activities as an excuse for not growing up.• But Symington and his allies used it as an excuse to furtherpostpone what is inevitable and right.• There were complaints by black youths of police harassment, the sus laws merely being used as an excuse for this.• He said his car had broken down, but it was just an excuse for coming home late.• Yet, after three years, it also sounded like an excuse.• I had to rush the decorators through, but I knew exactly what I wanted and I wouldn't take any excuse.• That is the most feebleexcuse for failing a test that I have ever heard.• He doesn't make excuses when he gets something wrong.• D'Arquebus Senior's pedanticexcuses made no sense.• Oh shut up Bill, I'm tired of listening to your excuses.
excuse for (doing) something• My patients often use that as an excuse forchocolatebinges, shopping binges, alcohol, and affairs.• Deprivation must not be an excuse for everything.• Looking for an excuse for a vacation, I picked the keys.• JohnMajor seems to sympathise, but the voters can be excused for not yet noticing.• There were to be no excuses for him returning.• There are so many, many deferredprojects here that I have no excuse for now.• The only excuse for the House of Lords is that it exists.• Mr Strine also gives readersexcuses for his losses, such as injuries to key players or even the weather.
excuse to do something• But Symington and his allies used it as an excuse to further postpone what is inevitable and right.• Neil Fraser looked tired and on edge, his wife was subdued and made an excuse to leave them early.• His ousterfurnished Nixon with an excuse tosendtroops into Cambodiawhich now turned into a new battlefield.• I think it a good excuse to get away from his family.• How could she make excuses toUncle Willi?• You imagine this war gives you the excuse todisobey me and do exactly as you wish.
Originexcuse1
(1400-1500)Old Frenchexcuser, from Latinexcusare, from causa“cause, explanation”