| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| alibi (n., v.) |
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| The noun originally referred to a legal proof of the physical impossibility that an accused person could have been at the scene of the crime, but Americans have extended it to mean “any excuse used to explain away a mistake or to account for an unfortunate action, however trivial and noncriminal.” Americans use it a great deal, but the British don’t like the extended sense, and some Edited English still rejects it in favor of excuse, explanation, or the like. | 1 |
| Functional shift created a verb, to alibi, meaning “to offer an excuse for,” the status of which has so rapidly improved that it is now at least Conversational. | 2 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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