Many variations of that phrase are popular in our culture, but they are all incorrect.
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
(1940-) American author
I did not get to that, or
did not get around to that yet, or
I have been concentrating on _ _ _ _
There are many ways to soften the word we are avoiding: “NO”, but they are just politely dodging the truth. More than what it represents in conversation, when we use the incorrect non-excuses, we are being dishonest with ourselves.
I have been working on my golf game, the trout fishing was awesome, my race car needed work … There are infinite legitimate answers that serve ourselves and our audiences much better.
“I didn’t have time” conveys absolutely nothing of the situation’s reality. Establishing that you are not going to be straightforward is a conversation stopper. If that is your objective, carry on.
