How does one distinguish an excuse from a reason?

Going by my professors definition, and I am paraphrasing, when a student is unable to attend an examination / submit a critical paper / accumulated more than four absences (which results in a failing grade in most courses at my university):

A Reason: When a student provides an explanation for their actions or lack thereof.
An Excuse: When the student tries to get away with their actions or lack thereof.

Student: Sorry. I was absent for the exam because my car broke down.
Student: It’s not my fault! My car broke down!

@muppetish
I like this answer. It agrees with the definitions I tried to provide above, but perhaps puts them in more easily understood terms. I agree with this philosophy, but I feel that in practice, at least in most situations, people tend to believe that there is no reason for someone not meeting their expectations, only excuses.

@Katexyz It does seem true that quite a few people I meet seem to fit that description. I don’t think it’s the best attitude to maintain. I think we should be open-minded when others explain their situation. One instance our professor cited was when a student had to miss class (exceeding the absence limit) to watch after her kids. He didn’t judge her for making the decision. He didn’t chastise her or say “I’m disappointed. / Your education should merit more importance. / Why couldn’t you get someone else to do it?” He simply accepted her reason and asked her to take her seat. On the same token, he did not bend the syllabus rules for her. That’s just how life works.

We all have those times when things just go wrong and we end having to explain our situation to others. It’s difficult. No one wants to feel it is necessary justify their actions.

It’s especially frustrating when someone asks “Why did you do [such and such]?” And then when they get their response, they say, “That’s a terrible excuse.” Well you asked. Sorry it wasn’t what you were expecting.

Went on a bit of a tangent there ;) Sorry ‘bout that.

Excuses basically say “It wasn’t my fault”. Reasons are clear cut “This is why this happened.” I don’t make excuses and resent it when I give someone the courtesy of an explanation to which they are not entitled and they say “Good excuse” as if.

if you watch their face when they speak you can tell if they are being sincere or making up excuses, Body language too.

If someone gives it to me, then it is an excuse.

If I use it on someone else, it is a reason!

My first instinct was reason = statement explaining how or why someone acts or thinks a certain way, and excuse = statement offered to demonstrate why someone should not be held responsible for acting or thinking a certain way.

That’s pretty much in keeping with what has already been said. Another way to conceive of the difference, then, might be reasons deal with internal causes, excuses deal with external ones.

What if it genuinely wasn’t your fault? Is it then both a reason and an excuse?

@downtide

Nope – it’s just a good excuse. :-)

It still generally means that you didn’t do something that was supposed to happen. So it’s a way to diminish or eliminate your fault for it. (think of it in a legal sense – an excuse means your still guilty but you won’t be punished. a defense is a reason – you did it but society can’t hold you guilty for it at all).