Kludge definition

Kludge





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3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  kludge
       n : 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)



From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  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.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  kludge
       
           /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)
       
       

















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