History Main / INeedToGoIronMyDog

* ''[[ComicBook/SunnySeries Sunny Rolls the Dice]]'' has Sunny's {{ChildhoodFriend|s}} Deb calls out of their D&D session by saying she's going to go do a thing with her mom. Sunny later sees her coming home from Valentine's Day shopping with her new friend Regina. Deb drops out of playing soon after, saying they're too old to play games "like that" and it's the start of the end of [[WeUsedToBeFriends their friendship]].

''Now I stepped out to buy some dog food for the cat.''

* Rupert Holnes' song "Answering Machine" contains an instance of this played straight.\\
-->''"Now I stepped out to buy some dog food for the cat''

* A bunch of Republicans actually pulled this stunt to get out of having to do anything with UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, including one claim of "watching dumpster fires". Similarly, Americans gave [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170119053833/https://www.distractify.com/humor/2017/01/17/trump-inauguration-excuses hilarious responses]] when Trump put out a Facebook invite to his inauguration. Of course this didn't stop President Trump's inauguration from being one of the most watched presidential inaugurations in US history (this includes television and online viewers).

* Creator/EddieIzzard:

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** In ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'', Linda Danvers and Lena Thorul are watching a concert when things abruptly begin blowing up, and Linda suddenly needs to go elsewhere because she... is not feeling well. Lena, who has already guessed Linda is ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s secret identity, just plays along with it.
-->'''Linda Danvers:''' Excuse me, Lena-- Suddenly I don't feel so well...\\

--->'''Mez:''' Ah, we only have ze ''one'' lavatory!\\

* A bunch of Republicans actually pulled this stunt to get out of having to do anything with UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, including one claim of "watching dumpster fires". Similarly, Americans gave [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170119053833/https://www.distractify.com/humor/2017/01/17/trump-inauguration-excuses hilarious responses]] when Trump put out a Facebook invite to his inauguration.
** Of course this didn't stop President Trump's inauguration from being one of the most watched presidential inaugurations in US history (this includes television and online viewers).

* In the first case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', if you answer "Mia Fey" (who's your ''boss'') when the Judge asks the name of the defendant, Mia will go "Look, I have to leave. I have to go home. I'm... I'm expecting a delivery."

Usually the mundane "Well, I'm off to work," "I think I'll call it a night," "[[BathroomSearchExcuse Gotta use the head]]", "GoingToTheStore" type of comment, rarely related to the plot, though these only qualify if they're somehow implausible (for instance, saying you have to go to work when you have Sundays off and it's Sunday). When turning down a date, women often say, "I have to wash my hair," which is both mundane and implausible (such an act does not take an entire evening[[note]]Unless you've got big hair, especially if it's of the curly variety. In that case washing your hair taking up the whole evening or more could be all too real…[[/note]]). The excuse to not be involved in something might involve a [[PlayingSick fake medical condition]] (if the obvious excuse is a bad leg, it's a ''[[{{Pun}} lame]]'' excuse both figuratively and literally). The British or TheRoaringTwenties equivalent would be "I have to see a man about a horse (or dog)."[[note]]This was also an UnusualEuphemism for needing to use the toilet or wanting to gamble.[[/note]]

* ''WebVideo/AnimeAmerica'': In "Top 10 Lamest Powers in Anime", one of the entries is about the Chara Nari in ''Manga/ShugoChara''. Megan and Shannan are so off-put by this one, before the explanation for the entry even begins, that they back out and drive away - but not before Megan tells Shannan that they need to go "get some supplies", while Shannan herself also gives the unconvincing excuse that she needs to get her "homework watered" on top of that.

* [=YouTube=] channel [[https://www.youtube.com/user/ForgottenWeapons Forgotten Weapons]] has a video about an innovative revolver which can fire several different calibres of bullet. It was a commercial failure. The presenter says that it fell victim to a common syndrome: a cool new gun is announced, and people say "Neat! I'm getting one of those." Then when the time comes to pay real money, they say "My cat has tonsillitis and I have to pay the vet."
* Played with in a now-deleted review for the children's book ''I Need a Wee'', in which a talking octopus needs to pee but is trying to come up with an excuse so his friends at the dinner table wouldn't know (sort of like GoToTheEuphemism except he wants to actually deceive them). He thinks of saying, "I need to powder my nose", but then realises that expression's already a toilet euphemism and besides he doesn't have a nose. He then thinks of saying, "I need to attend to my rocket", but then realises they'll get suspicious since he again doesn't have one. Eventually he just says, "Excuse me. I'll be back in a few minutes."

* WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows and WebVideo/PawDugan were able to worm their way out of helping WebVideo/PushingUpRoses review ''33 and 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee'' by claiming to be "on fire" and "drowning", respectively. After Roses invites the two of them to return for more [=LPs=] after ''Putt Putt Goes to the Moon'', Todd attempts to escape with "I have to...go...mow the carpet."

* In the first case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', if you answer "Mia Fey" (who's your ''assistant'') when the Judge asks the name of the defendant, Mia will go "Look, I have to leave. I have to go home. I'm... I'm expecting a delivery."

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'': Early on in the film Stoick proposes to do one more search for the nest before winter. Everyone tries to come with execuses why that can go on such an expedition. If you listen carefully one of them says they need to do their axe returns.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': The Abominable Snowman, wanting to avoid the conflict between Mike and Sulley, states "Oh, look, we're out of snowcones. Let me go out and make some more." Surprisingly, he actually ''did'' make new ones.

* When the "I need to wash my hair" excuse variant first appeared, it wasn't outlandish at all. Back in the days when women generally wore their hair very long and in elaborate hairstyles, and before such things as showers and hair dryers, washing one's hair, drying it, and then putting it back up was a major undertaking. It was a legitimate excuse then. It remained a legitimate thing right up until [[TropeBreaker the widespread availability of commercial shampoos and conditioners]]. Washing hair with plain soap leaves a residue, so it was wash, rinse, change the water and add a little lemon juice or vinegar (to remove the residue), then change the water ''again'' for the final rinse. Even when hair styles became generally shorter after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it could still be a long and occasionally arduous process — especially since most women wouldn't dream of simply leaving it to dry naturally. Right up through the 1950s, "setting" the hair (which usually involved putting it up in curlers) was a must.
* Turns out [[https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=jpeg&quality=70&width=1200&fit=contain&dpr=1&url=https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/bltcd74acc1d0a99f3a/bltc3403847757fe815/6279b89eb2fde70f23f39887/Untitled_design_-_2022-05-10T015722.653.png "I need to take my fish for a walk."]] is now a perfectly valid excuse.

Usually the mundane "Well, I'm off to work," "I think I'll call it a night," "[[BathroomSearchExcuse Gotta use the head]]", "GoingToTheStore" type of comment, rarely related to the plot, though these only qualify if they're somehow implausible (for instance, saying you have to go to work when you have Sundays off and it's Sunday). When turning down a date, women often say, "I have to wash my hair," which is both mundane and implausible (such an act does not take an entire evening[[note]]Unless you've got big hair, especially if it's of the curly variety. In that case washing your hair taking up the whole evening or more could be all too real…[[/note]]). The excuse to not be involved in something might involve a [[PlayingSick fake medical condition]] (if the obvious excuse is a bad leg, it's a ''[[IncrediblyLamePun lame]]'' excuse both figuratively and literally). The British or TheRoaringTwenties equivalent would be "I have to see a man about a horse (or dog)."[[note]]This was also an UnusualEuphemism for needing to use the toilet or wanting to gamble.[[/note]]

Usually the mundane "Well, I'm off to work," "I think I'll call it a night," "[[BathroomSearchExcuse Gotta use the head]]", "GoingToTheStore" type of comment, rarely related to the plot, though these only qualify if they're somehow implausible (for instance, saying you have to go to work when you have Sundays off and it's Sunday). When turning down a date, women often say, "I have to wash my hair," which is both mundane and implausible (such an act does not take an entire evening[[note]]Unless you've got big hair, especially if it's of the curly variety. In that case washing your hair taking up the whole evening or more could be all too real…[[/note]]). The excuse to not be involved in something might involve a [[PlayingSick fake medical condition]] (if the obvious excuse is a bad leg, it's a ''lame'' excuse both figuratively and literally). The British or TheRoaringTwenties equivalent would be "I have to see a man about a horse (or dog)."[[note]]This was also an UnusualEuphemism for needing to use the toilet or wanting to gamble.[[/note]]

* The classic sexual euphemisms "gathering nuts in May" and "[[Music/SteeleyeSpan looking for cuckoo nests]]" are both examples of this; nut-bearing plants don't bear fruit that early, and cuckoos don't build their own nests.

A paper-thin excuse to leave is made by a character to quickly leave or otherwise get out of doing something. Whether other characters accept the excuse depends on the tone of the story and the kind of characters involved.

Usually the mundane "Well, I'm off to work," "I think I'll call it a night," "[[BathroomSearchExcuse Gotta use the head]]", "GoingToTheStore" type of comment, rarely related to the plot, though these only qualify if they're somehow implausible (for instance, saying you have to go to work when you have Sundays off and it's Sunday). When turning down a date, women often say, "I have to wash my hair," which is both mundane and implausible (such an act does not take an entire evening). The excuse to not be involved in something might involve a [[PlayingSick fake medical condition]] (if the obvious excuse is a bad leg, it's a ''lame'' excuse both figuratively and literally). The British or TheRoaringTwenties equivalent would be "I have to see a man about a horse (or dog)."[[note]]This was also an UnusualEuphemism for needing to use the toilet or wanting to gamble.[[/note]]

* In an episode of ''Machinima/MGTSchool'', Yoshiko claimed that "she had to go to class" after Zodiac announced a video contest between herself and Seira. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere She was obviously trying to bail out on the idea]].

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Doukyusei}}'', the introduction event for the PlayerCharacter, Takurou's HotTeacher, Prof. Serizawa, sees her working at a desk, grading a series of tests. Takurou can ask how he did on the test, and she reminds him that he actually didn't hand in this particular test because he took that day off due to his uncle having died. She then dryly adds that it was the eighteenth of his uncles to die this year.
-->'''Takurou:''' What can I say? I come from a long line of uncles.

--> '''Kanaya:''' Im Afraid I Have Duties To Attend To At Home
--> '''Kanaya:''' I
--> '''Kanaya:''' Left A Dress In The Oven
--> '''Kanaya:''' Its
--> '''Kanaya:''' Made Out Of Clay You See
--> '''Kanaya:''' Im Getting Experimental