An emergency fix is a hasty solution to a sudden and unexpected problem. These solutions are often meant to be temporary, but may last longer (especially if procrastination kicks in).
Often called: "Jury-rigged," "Ghetto-rigged," "duct-taped," "good for now," and other adjectives.
Examples of an emergency fix:
- The aquarium has sprung a leak. Tape is applied to stop the water from flowing out until proper caulking can be applied (after the tank is emptied and cleaned).
- A program that is to be released soon has several bugs. Programmers "comment out" defective code until they can find the errors and fix them in the next version.
- The dial on the thermostat has broken off and become lost. Someone glues a small toy wheel or other dial onto the post until the thermostat can be replaced.