THE LANGUAGE OF EXCUSES

Human beings seem naturally inclined to dodge responsibility and skirt the blame. When things go wrong, there is always something in the way: circumstances, family obligations, bad luck, society, health, destiny — you name it. Rarely are we simply at fault. Languages, of course, reflect this very human tendency.

Both English and Spanish abound in idioms suggesting burdens, impediments, or invisible chains that prevent us from acting freely or successfully. We are not responsible, the expressions imply; we are weighed down by forces beyond our control.

Take the English idiom an albatross around one’s neck, made famous by Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The albatross symbolizes a heavy psychological or moral burden from which one cannot easily escape. Spanish offers several close equivalents: llevar una cruz a cuestas, llevar una pesada carga, or even tener la soga al cuello.

“I wasn’t ready to wear my failure like an albatross around my neck.”
-Haggai Carmon, The Chameleon Conspiracy (2009)

In Spanish:

“…ha sido como echar una soga al cuello de todos nosotros.”
-El Mundo, 20/04/1995

Or, more dramatically:

“Te has puesto la soga al cuello tú solito.”
-Mario Vargas Llosa, La tía Julia y el escribidor (1977)

Whether it is an albatross, a cross to bear, or a rope around the neck, the underlying idea is remarkably similar in both languages: life conspires against us, and our burdens often become our best excuses.

---