As for the rest of the time--when I'm watching ballroom-dancing competitions and searching for batteries for my Bop It and extracting all the sopapilla pieces from a gallon of limited edition cinnamon ice cream with the precision of a brain surgeon--there's no real excuse.
Definition of ALLOWANCE: A deduction, an average payment, a portion assigned or allowed: the act of allowing. The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed. Navigation
43 Synonyms found for allowance. allowance late 14c., praise (a sense now obsolete), from O.Fr. alouance, from alouer (see allow). Sense of a sum alloted to meet expenses is from mid-15c. In accounts, meaning a sum placed to one's credit is attested from 1520s. To make allowances is lit. to add or deduct a sum from someone's account for some special circumstance. Figurative use of the phrase is attested from 1670s.