kludge

[klooj] /kludʒ/
noun, Computer Slang.
1.
a software or hardware configuration that, while inelegant, inefficient, clumsy, or patched together, succeeds in solving a specific problem or performing a particular task.
Also, kluge.
Origin
1960-65; expressive coinage
Examples from the web for kludge
  • As an engineer, he can recognise a kludge when he sees one.
  • Here was a simple kludge for a floating platform that might be affordable.
  • If a test fails, the developers might also fail to understand what went wrong, and the resulting fix might be a kludge.
  • Also shown are tank cleaning information and kludge age and loading estimates for the test dates.
Word Origin and History for kludge

1962, noun and verb, U.S. slang, fanciful coinage by U.S. author Jackson W. Granholm (b.1921). Related: Kludgy.

Slang definitions & phrases for kludge

kludge

noun
  1. Aterm of endearment for a favorite computer, esp a somewhat defective one
  2. A computer program that has been revised and tinkered with so much that it will never work
  3. A ludicrous assortment of incompatible and unworkable components: You see this mechanical kluge (contraption), stop, think, and decide to do something

[1962+ Computer; apparently fr German klug, ''clever,'' with an ironic reverse twist]


kludge in Technology

jargon
/kluhj/ (From 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)