As Dictionary.com explains: "Say, for example, you tell your uncle that you're headed on an adventure in a bat-heavy area. He tells you to wear a hat at all times, considering bats' penchant for getting tangled in people's hair. If your uncle actually believes that bats targethair (they don't), he's spreading misinformation — it's untrue, sure, but he's not purposely trying to sow untruths. But maybe your uncle had a harrowing encounter with a bat colony as a kid. He's feared and hated them ever since, and he's keen on making everyone else fear and hate them, too. To further his mission, he's constantly presenting slanderous misconceptions about bats as facts. That's not just misinformation — it's disinformation, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "the dissemination of deliberately false information, [especially] when supplied by a government or its agent to a foreign power or to the media, with the intention of influencing the policies or opinions of those who receive it". So your uncle maliciously mentions that bats love to claw at hair, you believe him, and then you tell everyone on your spelunking trip that bats love to claw at hair. As you're not sharing the fictitious tidbit out of any ill intent, it's back to being plain old misinformation."
1. The question at AskReddit was for teachers: "What was the best excuse for being late that turned out to be true?"
2. I had a 6-year-old turn up late to her lesson and blurt out "sorry I was late, I had to colour in a bunny!" Seems fair.
3. Kid was late to school and had to miss a very important test. The reason? His fat Pug fell asleep on his phone. The pug's fat rolls muffled his alarm.
4. In my hometown if you walked anywhere late and said the phrase "Sorry, grain train" you were never challenged. It was extremely common for 50+ carriage trains to run through the middle of town.
5. "Sorry Bohemian Rhapsody came on just as I parked." - My art teacher when he was about 5:55 minutes late.
