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kludge

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kludge

  [klooj]
Use kludge in a Sentence
–noun Computer Slang.
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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kludge or kluge   (klōōj)   
n.   Slang

  1. A system, especially a computer system, that is constituted of poorly matched elements or of elements originally intended for other applications.

  2. A clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem.


[From ironic use of earlier kluge, smart, clever, from spelling pronunciation of German kluge, from Middle High German kluc, from Middle Low German klōk.]
kludge v., kludg'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
kludge [klədʒ] or [kludʒ]

and kluge
  1. n.
    a patch or a fix in a computer program or circuit. : This is a messy kludge, but it will do the job.
  2. tv.
    to patch or fix a computer program circuit. : I only have time to kludge this problem.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Computing Dictionary

kludge 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].
[The Jargon File]
(1998-12-09)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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