post hoc
See also: posthoc
English
Etymology 1
From Latin post hoc.
Adjective
post hoc (comparative more post hoc, superlative most post hoc)
- After the fact.
- 1986, Ralph B. Taylor, Urban neighborhoods: research and policy, page 239:
- Our work on using research was post hoc rather than planned as an integral part of the original study.
- 2001, Penelope Eckert, Style and sociolinguistic variation, page 155:
- The interpretations offered in this section are clearly much more post hoc than in my discussion of the informants' patterns.
- 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
- But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic
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Adverb
post hoc (comparative more post hoc, superlative most post hoc)
- After the fact.
- 2005 Fall, David B. Rivkin Jr., “THE VIRTUES OF PREEMPTIVE DETERRENCE”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 29, number 1, page 85:
- Ultimately, the wisdom of preemption will be judged post hoc.
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Usage notes
- Often written in italics (post hoc), or pronounced as a foreign word.
Translations
after the fact
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Etymology 2
From Latin post hoc ergo propter hoc
Noun
post hoc (plural post hocs)
- An instance of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, in which temporal order is confused with causation.
- 1919, George Saintsbury, A History of the French novel (to the close of the 19th century), page 422:
- or that it is altogether fair to accumulate the post hocs with their inevitable suggestion of propter
- 1958, Stuart Chase, Guides to straight thinking: with 13 common fallacies - Page 76:
- More grim were the post hocs of the ancient Aztecs. In their experience rain had followed the season of sacrificial rites, and they believed that ....
- 1966, Lew Sarett, Basic principles of speech, page 302:
- ... or walking under a ladder brings bad luck; belief in astrology; fear of the number thirteen. Advertisers play upon our weakness for post hocs
- 2006, Gerd Gigerenzer; Christoph Engel, Heuristics and the law, page 332:
- Accordingly, most of the time it is sufficient to draw lines of post hocs and to make a distinction between causes and symptoms in an almost graphic way.
- 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
- But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic
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Usage notes
- Often written in italics (post hoc), or pronounced as a foreign word.
- Often used attributively.
Derived terms
- posthockery
Latin
Phrase
post hoc
- after the fact
Related terms
- post hoc ergo propter hoc