Lame excuse

Posted by Victoria S Dennis May 22, 2005In reply to Lame excuse posted by Carol C. Hargett on May 21, 2005

What is the origin, and when was its earliest use, of the term "lame excuse"?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "lame" was already being used figuratively to mean "imperfect or defective", in phrases like "lame argument", "lame account", or "lame excuse", in Middle English (i.e. the Middle Ages).