A quick, superficial, or temporary approach to a problem that does not address or resolve the underlying cause of said problem. A reference to the Band-Aid brand of adhesive bandages. Sometimes capitalized. Honestly, I think this is just a Band-Aid treatment—we need to work harder and find a real solution. Lowering educational standards in schools may increase graduation rates, but it is little more than a band-aid approach to a much deeper problem. His band-aid approach to every problem is avoidance. Really, you guys need to make up or break up—and, either way, move on from this fight.

A quick, superficial, or temporary solution to a problem that does not address or resolve the underlying cause of said problem. A reference to the Band-Aid brand of adhesive bandages. Sometimes capitalized. While offering free pizza to customers affected by the oil spill is a cute band-aid solution, the company has no plan in place to deal with the actual damage that it caused. Lowering educational standards in schools may increase graduation rates, but it is little more than a band-aid solution to a much deeper problem. Avoiding the tension is just a band-aid solution. You guys need to make up or break up—and, either way, move on from this fight.

An outdated or obsolete solution; a solution that is no longer relevant or viable. These politicians are content offering the same horse-and-buggy solutions to this problem, but we need something radically different if we want to see results! Promising to bring dial-up Internet to the entire state is a horse-and-buggy solution for a world that is already thinking beyond fiber broadband. It's the same old horse-and-buggy solution—get ratings out of the dumpster by bringing back a beloved character for a short stint. Viewers are numb to it by now.

The forceful, unnatural manipulation of someone or something to fit a rigid set of conditions or requirements. In Greek mythology, the giant Procrustes would capture people and then stretch or cut off their limbs to make them fit into his bed. While in theory the idea of raising the minimum wage to a certain threshold for every business in the country seems like a positive, it is really a Procrustean solution that forces conformity to an impossible standard on many businesses that simply cannot afford to acquiesce.

The Nazi program of annihilating all Jews in Europe during the reign of the Third Reich, an act of mass genocide that led to the murder of more than six million Jews. My great-grandfather was one of only a few Jews in his city to survive the Final Solution in Germany during World War II.

A stopgap measure, a temporary expedient. This term applies the trade name for a small bandage, the Band-Aid, patented in 1924, to approaching or solving an issue in a makeshift way. It dates from the late 1960s and is approaching cliché status.

Adjusting the facts to suit the situation. In Greek mythology, Procrustes (his name meant “stretcher”) lived in a roadside house in which he invited travelers for a meal and a night's rest. The guests stayed in a bed whose length, according to Procrustes, exactly matched anyone who slept in it. And it did—after the host stretched a smaller guest on a rack or chopped the legs off a taller guest until he fit the bed. This practice ended only when the hero Theseus killed Procrustes by giving him a dose of his own medicine. Someone who alters the facts by, for example, overestimating or underreporting data is said to offer a Procrustean solution.