kludgen.
/kluːdʒ/ slang (originally U.S.).
‘An ill-assorted collection of poorly-matching parts, forming a distressing whole’ (Granholm); esp. in Computing, a machine, system, or program that has been improvised or ‘bodged’ together; a hastily improvised and poorly thought-out solution to a fault or ‘bug’.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [noun] > poorly devised system
kludge1962
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > unskilful action or working > clumsy or unskilful putting together > instance or result of
cloutery1581
clampera1664
tinker1857
cobble1859
kludge1962
1962 J. W. Granholm in Datamation Feb. 30/1 The word ‘kludge’ is..derived from the same root as the German Kluge.., originally meaning ‘smart’ or ‘witty’... ‘Kludge’ eventually came to mean ‘not so smart’ or ‘pretty ridiculous’.
1962 J. W. Granholm in Datamation Feb. 30/2 The building of a Kludge..is not work for amateurs. There is a certain, indefinable, masochistic finesse that must go into true Kludge building.
1966 New Scientist 22 Dec. 699/1 Kludges are conceived of man's natural fallibility, nourished by his loyalty to erroneous opinion, and perfected by the human capacity to apply maximum effort only when proceeding in the wrong direction.
1976 Electronic Design 5 Jan. 120 The technique uses some kluge wiring, which must be carefully done to avoid shorts and noise problems.
1979 Personal Computer World Nov. 71/3 Kludge, a local modification or patch in a computer program to overcome some error or design fault.
1983 Austral. Personal Computer Sept. 43/2 A well constructed and neat PCB with no obvious ‘kludges’ or last minute changes of mind.
1984 Which Micro? Dec. 21/4 The QL is at last available..and without ‘kludges’ tacked on to make it work.
1987 Electronics 25 June 67 They have to get this performance with simple air-cooled designs, not with liquid-cooled kluges.
Derivatives
kludge v. transitive, to improvise with a kludge or kludges.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [verb (transitive)] > assemble system poorly
kludge1983
1983 Verbatim Winter 17/1 To kludge means to put together some hardware (or write a program) by combining parts of existing computers or their programs.
kludged adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [adjective] > relating to user interface > easy to use > poorly devised
kludged1984
1984 QL User Dec. 19 Its history was most unfortunate to start with: production delays, ‘kludged’ machines, extra ROMs hanging off the back.
ˈkludgemanship n. skill in designing or applying kludges.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [noun] > poorly devised system > skill in devising
kludgemanship1962
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > unskilful action or working > clumsy or unskilful putting together
clamperinga1586
tinkering1591
cobblinga1764
kludgemanship1962
1962 Datamation Feb. 30/2 It is in the lashing together of whole modules of equipment that the opportunity for applied kludgemanship presents itself to the hilt.
1966 L. Harrisberger Engineersmanship vii. 108 The noble art of Kludgemanship capitalizes upon the design engineer's affinity for asininity and deals with the techniques for how to miss the perfect opportunity and succeed in achieving optimum imperfectability.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1989; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1962