Legal terminology is so much fun — and often, when examined, can offer life lessons on how to handle real-world challenges. Force majeure, for instance, cancels a contractual promise or excuses a delay in the face of an overwhelming event like revolution, war, riot, crime, or similar unforeseeable happening. And beyond even force majeure are Acts of God, unpredictable natural phenomena like earthquakes or tsunami that permit a breach of contract. (Though things that were formerly "Acts of God" may now be caused by mortal Man, like fracking-triggered seismic activity.)

And in the opposite direction is the concept of de minimis, something triflingly small, like roundoff error in a well-defined measurement. As per the Latin proverb, aquila non capit muscas — the eagle does not catch flies. That's beneath notice; we've got better things to do!

(cf Pacer Debate (2008-12-12), ...) - ^z - 2020-02-06