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I don't understand the meaning of "will have to do" in the following paragraph. What does it mean?

"However, whatever significant portion of Earth's satellite will be visible Sunday, July 21, will have to do for everyone joining in at the Hamptons Full Moon Fest shindig starting at 6 p.m."

-- Article "Hamptons Full Moon Fest at Gurney’s Inn", newsday.com (July 21 2013)

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  • Mike has answered the question below. I found the meaning difficult to get on first reading because of the commas in the date. It would have been far more straightforward without any punctuation there.
    – tunny
    Commented Nov 5, 2014 at 10:27
  • @tunny the commas are correct for that way of referring to dates.
    – Dan Getz
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 2:01

1 Answer 1

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In this context, "will have to do" means "will have to be acceptable, since we have no other choice". When someone says this, it implies that this outcome might be imperfect; however, other factors constrain a better outcome.

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  • Mike, I don't know why, but "will have to be acceptable" sounds ungrammatical to my (non-native) ear.
    – user114
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 18:13
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    "Will have to be acceptable" is perfectly acceptable. :) It has an implied meaning of "will have to be considered acceptable" or "taken as acceptable." Perhaps "will have to suffice" is a bit more explicit.
    – BobRodes
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 18:50
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    @bobrhodes, regarding "will have to suffice", good critique...
    – Mike Pennington
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 18:56
  • The problem with "will have to be acceptable" is that it mixes two different mutually exclusive concepts. Acceptableness implies a choice and "have to" implies there isn't a choice. As stated above "will have to suffice" or "will have to be sufficient" is a better wording. That said "I have to accept" is a commonly used phrase.
    – rghome
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 13:24

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