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Kludge - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Kludge : (noun)
1: a badly assembled collection of parts hastily assembled to
serve some particular purpose (often used to refer to
computing systems or software that has been badly put
together)
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Kludge :
/kluhj/ (Based on the old Scots "kludgie" meaning an
outside toilet) A Scottish engineering term for anything added
in an ad hoc (and possibly unhygenic!) manner. At some point
during the Second World War, Scottish engineers met Americans
and the meaning, spelling and pronunciation of kludge became
confused with that of "{kluge".
The spelling "kludge" was apparently popularised by the
"Datamation" cited below which defined it as "An ill-assorted
collection of poorly matching parts, forming a distressing
whole."
The result of this tangled history is a mess; in 1993, many
(perhaps even most) hackers pronounce the word /klooj/ but
spell it "kludge" (compare the pronunciation drift of mung).
Some observers consider this appropriate in view of its
meaning.
["How to Design a Kludge", Jackson Granholme, Datamation,
February 1962, pp. 30-31].
[{Jargon File]
(1998-12-09)
Based on the Online Dictionary of Computing [Computer_Dictionary]:
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Kludge : 1. /klooj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of
kluge (US). These two words have been confused in American usage since
the early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great Britain since the end of
World War II. 2. [TMRC] A crock that works. (A long-ago "Datamation"
article by Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection
of poorly matching parts, forming a distressing whole.") 3. v. To use a
kludge to get around a problem. "I've kludged around it for now, but
I'll fix it up properly later."
This word appears to have derived from Scots `kludge' or `kludgie' for
a common toilet, via British military slang. It apparently became
confused with U.S. kluge during or after World War II; some Britons
from that era use both words in definably different ways, but kluge is
now uncommon in Great Britain. `Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs
in meaning from `kluge' in that it lacks the positive senses; a kludge
is something no Commonwealth hacker wants to be associated too closely
with. Also, `kludge' is more widely known in British mainstream slang
than `kluge' is in the U.S.
Based on the Online Dictionary of Computing [Computer_Dictionary]:
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Example Usage of Kludge |
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liliththekitten: working on an 8x8 Live/Launchpad step sequencer, hmmm, its a Kludge but I come up with cool beats on it so idk |
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underwhelm: @minainerz It would, except for the part about getting everything set up again from scratch. as long as I can Kludge my way to a solution… |
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christy_hudson: ok, thats just funny!! Epic Kludge http://thereifixedit.com/2009/12/06/ironing-defrosting-same-thing/ |
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