What's the difference between an excuse and a reason?

An excuse is when you're trying to excuse yourself from the responsibility of your choices and the damage it might have caused others.

A reason explains the thought behind the choice, accepting full responsibility for the consequences.

An excuse is trying to say that there's a good reason for why something happened as if you shouldn't be blamed for it. As you can see, I used the word reason. In context, excuses (and reasons) are often seen as an attempt to subvert blame in a situation where the other person feels you are in complete control. If you find yourself giving excuses, you might need to reassure the other person that you take responsibility for your actions and see how you can work to rectify it.

An excuse isn't necessarily credible, reasonable, or acceptable.

Aliens stole my homework.

pretty much the same thing. The intent behind the explanation is what makes the difference.

They're the same ultimately. It depends on if the other accepts your reason. It could be entirely valid (I couldn't run the marathon with you because my legs were amputated in a freak accident) but it's up to the other person to make the final judgement on it.

In carpentry the joints are tight and tidy with no movement, if not the reason could be due to wood shrinkage.
my joints are rarely tight , my excuse is that I'm not a carpenter.

A reason is labelled as an excuse if the person doesn't want to accept the reason. ie i'm late for work because my car broke down. Boss.. i don't want to hear your excuses.

An excuse is made up by the defender. A reason is asked for by the attacker

Reasons are valid. Excuses are not
🤔
Yea, that's right😁

Its an excuse if its someone else its a reason if its you

guilt..

give them a big 'MEH' i was bored 🤷‍♂️

Excuse lacks sincerity

Perception

Both stories