Back out

Saturday, 2026-2-28, Word of the Day: Back out

YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast

Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.




Word of the Day: Back out 

If you are reading this or listening to this, and you are, then you have, at one time in your life, decided not to do something you said you would or planned to do.

In other words, you backed out of something.


When you back out of something, you change your mind and do not keep your promise or commitment.


This phrase is often used when someone decides to break an agreement, promise, or plan.

For example, if you promise to help your friend move on Saturday, but later you decide not to, you back out of your promise.

Now, maybe you tied one on on Friday and can’t get out of bed, or if you are middle-aged like me, your mouth made a promise your back can’t deliver.

Usually, there is no shame in backing out of something you have previously agreed to participate in.

We all know that life tends to get in the way of our plans.

Robert Burns, in his 1785 poem “To a Mouse,” referred to the best-laid plans of mice and men.

Some say that a man’s word is his bond, but life and Murphy’s Law are much bigger than any man.

That said, if you back out of plans and promises regularly, you will be accused of making empty promises.

You can’t blame life for everything unless you are the unluckiest person in the world.

To end, backing out of something means not doing what you previously agreed or planned to do.

Yes, life does get in the way sometimes, but it’s better to be honest and careful about your commitments so you don’t have to back out often.


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 70.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100. 




Posted

in

by

Discover and discuss how to finish the projects you have lost interest in.   Struggling to finish tasks?
close
open