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kludgemore about kludge

kludge

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [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  (13  Mar  01)  [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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