Drop Dead Date
The drop dead date is the absolute deadline by which a task must be completed.
As the term indicates, should a certain task not be completed before the drop dead date, it will more than likely be rendered worthless.
As an example, imagine that the drop dead date for the receipt of an article in a particular issue of a magazine is set as two days before the magazine goes to print. Then imagine, in the worst case scenario, that the article is only completed after the magazine has been printed. The article has, therefore, missed its drop dead date and is of no use to anybody.
