The Buzz Log What’s hot on Yahoo! Buzz™ (and why)...

"Dead grandmother?" -- Principal Edward Rooney, Ferris Bueller's Day Off

As writers, we have many deadlines. But as slackers, we're armed with loads of excuses. We've blamed a faulty alarm for our tardiness, interns for our flatulence, and, on occasion, food poisoning for our hung-over appearance. We were starting to feel a bit guilty for our wicked, wicked ways until someone suggested that we see what excuses our readers search for. And we thought we were conniving...

To be effective, an excuse must first be believable. So it's no surprise that "doctor's excuse" tops our list. Apparently a fake note from the ol' general practitioner is still the best way to get out of any obligation. Other popular excuses include "jury duty excuse," "homework excuse," and the very general "work excuse." Desperate or imaginative folks may find a way to weave all of these little white lies into one gigantic whopper. Something like, "I can't come to work because my mother has jury duty and her car was stolen. On a completely unrelated note, my homework was in the glove box."

Below are the week's most-searched-for methods of deceit. All work well in a pinch, but use our food-poisoning story sparingly. Bosses tend to get wise after the third bout.