dog ate my homework

the dog ate my homework

A hackneyed explanation for why one does not have their homework. A: "I can't tell my teacher that the dog ate my homework!" B: "Come on, a bad excuse is better than none."
See also: ate, dog, homework
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(The) dog ate my homework

A poor excuse for something that someone has failed to do on time. (From an excuse a student might give for failing to turn in homework on time. Occurs in many variations.) The dog ate my homework, so I have nothing to turn in. (Used as an attributive.) Bob was late with his report and had nothing but his typical dog-ate-my-homework excuses.
See also: ate, dog, homework
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

dog ate my homework, the

A ridiculous and obviously prevaricating excuse for failing to meet an obligation. It dates from the late 1900s and is so well known that a Boston Globe headline for a book review of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr played on it, “The Internet Ate My Brain” (June 6, 2010). A Washington Examiner column by Timothy P. Carney about a bill provision allowing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to accept late applications for patent extensions called it “The Dog Ate My Homework Act” (March 20, 2010).
See also: ate, dog
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • dog ate my homework, the
  • the dog ate my homework
  • ate
  • avoid (someone or something) like the plague
  • avoid like the plague
  • avoid somebody/something like the plague
  • avoid someone/something like the plague
  • lower the boom (on someone or something)
  • lower the boom on
  • cock an ear/eye at somebody/something
References in periodicals archive
"THE dog ate my homework" has never impressed teachers as an excuse - and now the Office for National Statistics is warning that it will not wash as a reason for failing to fill in the census form.
CENSUS: DON'T EVEN THINK OF AN EXCUSE
In fact, some high-profile enthusiasts for educational change have proved themselves good classroom performers: Mayor Boris Johnson went down a storm when he visited a London girls' school recently to give a lesson in his beloved Latin (top tip for kids: Canis studia domestici devoravit, domina--the dog ate my homework, Miss).
A tsar is born: following an invitation to help advise the government on the school history curriculum, what can a high-profile 'telly don' like Niall Ferguson bring to the classroom? Sean Lang wonders
It's the drug stooge's equivalent of saying: "The dog ate my homework, sir."
No mercy for drug menace; GEORGE TYNDALE What do you think? write to George Tyndale, Sunday Mercury, Floor 6, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FF, or e-mail george_tyndale@mrn.co.uk
Quite frankly, "please, miss, the dog ate my homework" is a more convincing excuse for not meeting your obligations.
Excuses, excuses
The litany runs: "too expensive, too much trouble, I don't know how, you can't use them inside" all the way up to "the dog ate my homework." All are bogus.
Psychics
As Golladay jokingly observed, "The dog ate my homework" excuses don't cut it in Tikrit.
Classroom participation sought by soldier-students in Iraq
Bonds's ignorance of their true identity is more childish than a youngster's excuse that "the dog ate my homework."
'The dog ate my homework'
They almost always have a story that may not be supported by observable facts -- you know -- the dog ate my homework sort of stuff, but the painful truth is weird harmonics or powder detonation which often get blamed don't have much in the way of science to support the story.
How to blow up a rifle. (Handloader)
It's hard to imagine, but your parents may have once have used the excuse, "The dog ate my homework." That's because they used to be teens, too.
Teen evolution
When we returned to school after the holidays, I told the two girls whose work was mangled that they had the best excuse going: "My teacher's dog ate my homework."
Mr. Literal. (in the Light Lane)
Phelps and his group insisted the provision had been included as a means of forcing the legislature to impose stricter limits, but to most ears, the explanation had a "the dog ate my homework" ring to it.
Battle of the white hats: two campaign finance reform groups fight the good fight - with each other
Evidently, animals pose a threat to installations with single-point-of-failure power systems and communication systems, including the "My dog ate my homework" syndrome.
Inside Risks
"Most notably I featured in The Dog Ate my Homework as Eve from class 4b, and starred in the Amazon Kindle kids UK advert and recently I appeared in Spy School for CITV," she said.
Eve's set to prove that all the world's a stage
Mourinho's explanation for Eric Bailly's recent lack of playing time was about as credible as 'the dog ate my homework', particularly when Matteo Darmian - whose country also failed to qualify for the World Cup - lined up at Brighton.
KEY ISSUES FOR REDS ANALYSIS
Iain co-wrote and hosted four series of CBBC comedy panel show The Dog Ate My Homework, which won Bafta Scotland's 2016 Best Programme Award last year and saw him pick up this year's Children's Bafta Best Presenter Award.
Voice of Love Island sails back to own stage show; Comedian Iain Stirling swaps edit room for stage as he heads to festival