band-aid treatment Temporary, inadequate patching over of a major difficulty demanding radical treatment; makeshift or stopgap measures which temporarily relieve a problem without solving it. Band-aid is a trade name for a small adhesive bandage used on minor cuts and scrapes. The expression is American slang and apparently of fairly recent coinage.

half-baked Insufficiently planned or prepared, not well thought out, ill-considered; unrealistic, flimsy, unsubstantial, incomplete; sloppy, shoddy, crude; not thorough or earnest. It is easy to see how the literal sense of half-baked ‘undercooked, doughy, raw’ gave rise to the figurative sense of ‘inadequately prepared or planned.’ The use of this term in its figurative sense dates from the early 17th century. The expression appeared in this passage from Nation Magazine (August 1892):

house of cards Any insecure or unsubstantial structure, system, or scheme subject to imminent collapse; also castle of cards. The allusion is to the card-castles or houses children often build, only to blow them down in one breath a few moments later.

jerry-built Cheaply made, poorly constructed, flimsy, unsubstantial, slapdash, haphazard, makeshift. The most plausible of the many theories as to the origin of this term relates it to the Jerry Brothers, Builders and Contractors of Liverpool, England, in the early 19th century. This company was apparently so notorious for its rapidly and cheaply constructed, though showy, houses that its name became synonymous with inferior, shoddy building practices. Of British origin, this expression dates from at least 1869.

jury-rigged Makeshift, stopgap, temporary; a nautical term applied to a ship that leaves port partially, rather than fully- or ship-rigged, with rigging to be completed at sea; or to one temporarily rigged as a result of disablement. Though the jury has been said to derive from the French jour ‘day’ (hence rigged for the/a day only), the OED says the origin is unknown.

rope of sand Something of no permanence or binding power; an ineffective, uncohesive union or alliance; a weak, easily broken bond or tie. The phrase, of British origin, has been used metaphorically since the 17th century to describe worthless agreements, contracts, etc.