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I'm playing a game and I've hit a cutscene where a henchman is apologizing to
the main villain for their failure to defeat the heroes with his plan. After
the henchman more or less finishes explaining what happened, the main villain
then says

> はあ… 言い訳はいいから。

And I'm not sure how to interpret this.

When I first read 言い訳はいいから I took it as "excuses are fine / ok". Which, to me,
gives off a more forgiving tone. Something like "Don't worry about the
excuses. It's fine for now. Let's move on." But then I started to think this
isn't actually correct.

Immediately following that line, the main villain goes on to say:

> しっかりしてよね。  
>  ちゃんと懲らしめることができたら…  
>  副委員長の座を  
>  アナタにあげてもいいと思ってるんだから。

**My translation:**

> Pull yourself together.  
>  If I was able to punish you properly...  
>  The position of vice chairman  
>  I'm thinking it would be ok to give it to you.

And this doesn't really seem too forgiving. Which makes me think that 言い訳はいいから
is more like "I don't care about your excuses!" or "No excuses! This is
unforgivable! Don't let it happen again!"

So what is the intended meaning behind 言い訳はいいから? Does it have a more positive
or negative meaning? Does it depend on the overall context / tone of the
conversation?

Just to finish out the scene / extra context, the henchman responds to this by
saying:

> は 本当ですか！？  
>  次こそは必ず…！

**My translation:**

> Re.. Really!?  
>  Next time I will absolutely... (not fail you)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-25T06:31:35.753
99444
2023-04-25T14:48:43.437
2023-04-25T14:48:43.437
9831
30339
question
meaning
Misinterpreting 言い訳はいいから
You are correct with the meaning. Some alternative translations are:

  * Don't make excuses
  * Enough with the excuses
  * I don't need your excuses

It's hard to tell without full context, but I believe something like this
would be more accurate:

> Enough with the excuses.  
>  Pull yourself together.  
>  If you can can teach them a lesson... (beat up the heroes or something)  
>  I think it would even be ok to give you...  
>  the position of vice chairman.

To which the henchman replies:

> e.. Really!?  
>  Next time I will absolutely... (not fail you)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-25T07:09:24.120
99445
2023-04-25T14:46:59.163
2023-04-25T14:46:59.163
9831
55721
99444
answer