Alibi Ike

Alibi Ike

English

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.

Noun

Alibi Ike (plural Alibi Ikes)

1. (informal) One who is always ready to provide excuses for shortcomings, errors, or other difficulties.
   • 1992, Hanoch Teller, Give Peace a Chance, →ISBN, p. 83 (Google preview):

     But Rafi poured ice water on my enthusiasm: the staff wouldn't agree, the labor union would give us trouble, Harris would back down and we'd be stuck with a huge inventory. He had more excuses than Alibi Ike.

   • 2002, Jerome Alexander, 160 Degrees of Deviation: The Case for the Corporate Cynic, →ISBN, p. 28 (Google preview):

     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!

   • 2010, Frank Deford, Bliss, Remembered: A Novel, →ISBN, (Google preview):

     Now, I'm no Alibi Ike, Teddy, but I think that was my downfall.

   • 2014 June 6, HarryRPitts, comment on "Benghazi, Bowe Bergdahl, and manufactured brouhaha" by Andrew Bacevich, Boston Globe (retrieved 10 July 2014):

     There's no foulup so lame that keepers of the flame like Andrew Bacevich, the modern Alibi Ike, can't excuse, spin and downplay.

Synonyms

• apologist

See also

• Dapper Dan, doubting Thomas, Gentleman Jim, gloomy Gus, good-time Charlie, nervous Nellie, plain Jane, Silent Sam