single word requests - What can be used as formal euphemism of "hack"?


I'm writing a technical document, and I need to convey the fact that we had to find a non-optimal, non-orthodox solution that was adopted as the best available alternative (a hack) to solve an otherwise problematic issue.


Please note that I refer to the positive meaning of "hack", and not at the negative one, as clarified in this question.


To me, "escamotage" doesn't sound really appropriate in a technical document, and "hack" seems a bit informal and not very "technical".


Is there a construction that can help?



Answer



I would go so far as to say that unless you are very sure of your audience, you should not use "escamotage" at all, as it is not in broad circulation (0 hits at the Corpus of Contemporary American English(COCA)) .


If you don't want to label it a hack, a short descriptive phrase such as "short-term patch" or "temporary workaround" that emphasize that it is not a viable long-term arrangement should be suitable.


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