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crufty


crufty

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  crufty  /kruhf'tee/  adj  [very  common;  origin  unknown;  poss. 
  from  `crusty'  or  `cruddy']  1.  Poorly  built,  possibly  over-complex. 
  The  {canonical}  example  is  "This  is  standard  old  crufty  {DEC}  software". 
  In  fact  one  fanciful  theory  of  the  origin  of  `crufty'  holds  that  was 
  originally  a  mutation  of  `crusty'  applied  to  DEC  software  so  old  that  the 
  `s'  characters  were  tall  and  skinny,  looking  more  like  `f'  characters. 
  2.  Unpleasant,  especially  to  the  touch,  often  with  encrusted  junk. 
  Like  spilled  coffee  smeared  with  peanut  butter  and  catsup.  3.  Generally 
  unpleasant.  4.  (sometimes  spelled  `cruftie')  n.  A  small  crufty  object 
  (see  {frob});  often  one  that  doesn't  fit  well  into  the  scheme  of  things 
  "A  LISP  property  list  is  a  good  place  to  store  crufties  (or,  collectively, 
  {random}  cruft)." 
 
  This  term  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  jargon  and  no  one  is  sure  of 
  its  etymology,  but  it  is  suggestive  that  there  is  a  Cruft  Hall  at  Harvard 
  University  which  is  part  of  the  old  physics  building;  it's  said  to  have 
  been  the  physics  department's  radar  lab  during  WWII  To  this  day  (early 
  1993)  the  windows  appear  to  be  full  of  random  techno-junk.  MIT  or  Lincoln 
  Labs  people  may  well  have  coined  the  term  as  a  knock  on  the  competition. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  crufty 
 
  /kruhf'tee/  [Possibly  from  "crusty"]  1.  Poorly  built,  possibly 
  over-complex.  The  {canonical}  example  is  "This  is  standard 
  old  crufty  {DEC}  software".  In  fact  one  fanciful  theory  of 
  the  origin  of  crufty"  holds  that  it  was  originally  a  mutation 
  of  crusty"  applied  to  DEC  software  so  old  that  the  s" 
  characters  were  tall  and  skinny,  looking  more  like  f" 
  characters. 
 
  2.  (Sometimes  spelled  "cruftie")  A  small  crufty  object  (see 
  {frob});  often  one  that  doesn't  fit  well  into  the  scheme  of 
  things  "A  {Lisp}  {property  list}  is  a  good  place  to  store 
  crufties  (or,  collectively,  {random}  cruft)." 
 
  [{Jargon  File}]