post hocn.adv.adj.

1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xi. 119 In the cases in which recovery is stated to have followed this practice [of mercurialization] the post hoc has been mistaken for the propter hoc.

1865 Times 29 Sept. 9/2 In estimating the effects of such and such treatment the post hoc is assumed to be the propter hoc.

1901 E. L. Baldwin & J. M. Baldwin tr. K. Groos Play of Man i. iii. 152 Only through frequent repetitions of the post hoc does independent interest in the propter hoc gradually arise.

1935 M. S. Libby Attitude of Voltaire to Magic & Sci. v. 238 Men have jumped to conclusions much too hastily. They have not waited to see if the post hocs were propter hocs.

1973 Rev. Eng. Stud. 24 332 Generally..he does maintain a delicate balance between his post hocs and propter hocs.

1844 Times 6 Jan. 6/1 In some instances, perhaps, the change which has followed his writing has been not only post hoc, but partly propter hoc.

1847 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) Oct. 614/1 Post hoc, (whether propter hoc, the committee themselves best know,) the book disappears from the market.

1876 B. F. Butler Let. to Hon. E. R. Hoar 23 The precinct where I spoke in Ohio..quite maintained its majority of last year. Now I don't say propter hoc, but I have a right to say post hoc.

1889 Athenæum 13 Apr. 468/1 We have read the whole statement without feeling convinced that ‘post hoc’ necessarily included ‘propter hoc’ in this case.

1955 A. Huxley Genius & Goddess 53 He was a most distinguished chemist; and whether it was post hoc or propter hoc, I don't know; but his wife looked as if all her secretions were pure acetic acid.

2005 New Yorker 24 Oct. 36/2 A few years post hoc, Ankiel lost the ability to throw a baseball within the same county as home plate.

1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. xi. 206 Full of this post hoc argument, Mr. Melbury overlooked the infinite throng of other possible reasons..for a woman changing her mind.

1905 Discriminator Prosp. 26 Inventing a dangerous post hoc explanation of a catastrophe which has surprised him.

1936 K. Rexroth Function of Poetry & Place of Poet in Society in B. Morrow World Outside Window (1987) 4 Perhaps some of his interpretations sound a little far-fetched and post hoc today, but his method is perfectly sound.

1960 Times 24 Oct. (Financial Review) p. xiv/2 Substituting post-hoc inspection of these accounts for prior authorization of each transaction.

1998 J. L. Locke Why we don't talk Anymore i. 35 Loss of self is an unintended consequence, and the egalitarian ‘benefit’ a clever post-hoc rationalization.