9 May 2013

ad hoc

[ad hok; Latin ahd hohk]

adverb

1. for the special purpose or end presently under consideration: a committee formed ad hoc to deal with the issue.

adjective

2. concerned or dealing with a specific subject, purpose, or end: The ad hoc committee disbanded after making its final report.

Ad hoc can also mean makeshift solutions, shifting contexts to create new meanings, inadequate planning, or improvised events (Wikipedia).

Origin:
1550–60; < Latin ad hōc for this

Today’s aphorism

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures, and we are all mortal.

– John F. Kennedy

On this day

9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.

9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.

9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.