A student was left with some explaining to do after discovering their rescue cat had eaten large parts of a homework assignment due the next day.
The ‘dog ate my homework’ is one of the oldest and least-convincing excuses ever offered up in the world of education and academia with a history that dates back over a century.
Slate says that, in 1905, an issue of The Cambrian, a magazine for Welsh Americans, featured an anecdote involving a priest who, following a service, pulled a clerk aside to ask whether his sermon had been long enough.
When told it was “just the right length,” the priest responded: “I am very glad to hear you say that, because just before I started to come here, my dog got hold of my sermon and ate some of the leaves.”
Since then, it has evolved to become more of an expression referring to an instance where a student has come up with a poorly fabricated excuse for failing to submit an assignment on time.
There have been…
