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Kludge
A kludge or kluge (/klʌdʒ, kluːdʒ/) is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain. Its only benefit is that it rapidly solves an important problem using available resources. A famous example is the improvised CO2 scrubber that kept the astronauts alive on Apollo 13. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet slang, evolutionary neuroscience, animation and government. It is similar in meaning to the naval term jury rig.
The word has alternate spellings (kludge and kluge), pronunciations (/klʌdʒ/ and /kluːdʒ/, rhyming with judge and stooge, respectively), and several proposed etymologies.
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989), cites Jackson W. Granholm's 1962 "How to Design a Kludge" article in the American computer magazine Datamation.
kludge /kluːdʒ/ Also kluge. (J. W. Granholm's jocular invention: see first quot.; cf. also bodge v., fudge v.)
'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'. ...
OED defines these two kludge cognates as: bodge 'to patch or mend clumsily' and fudge 'to fit together or adjust in a clumsy, makeshift, or dishonest manner'. The OED entry also includes the verb kludge ('to improvise with a kludge or kludges') and kludgemanship ('skill in designing or applying kludges').
Granholm humorously imagined a fictitious source for the term:
Phineas Burling is the chief calligrapher with the Fink and Wiggles Publishing Company, Inc. ... According to Burling, the word "kludge" first appeared in the English language in the early fifteen-hundreds. ... The word "kludge" is, according to Burling, derived from the same root as the German klug (Dutch kloog, Swedish klag, Danish klog, Gothic klaugen, Lettish [Latvian] kladnis and Sanskrit veklaunn), originally meaning 'smart' or 'witty'. In the typical machinations of language in evolutionary growth, the word "kludge" eventually came to mean 'not so smart' or 'pretty ridiculous' .... Today "kludge" forms one of the most beloved words in design terminology, and it stands ready for handy application to the work of anyone who gins up 110-volt circuitry to plug into the 220 VAC source. The building of a kludge, however, is not work for amateurs.
Although OED accepts Granholm's coinage of the term (not the fanciful pseudo-etymology quoted above), there are examples of its use before the 1960s.
Hub AI
Kludge AI simulator
(@Kludge_simulator)
Kludge
A kludge or kluge (/klʌdʒ, kluːdʒ/) is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain. Its only benefit is that it rapidly solves an important problem using available resources. A famous example is the improvised CO2 scrubber that kept the astronauts alive on Apollo 13. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet slang, evolutionary neuroscience, animation and government. It is similar in meaning to the naval term jury rig.
The word has alternate spellings (kludge and kluge), pronunciations (/klʌdʒ/ and /kluːdʒ/, rhyming with judge and stooge, respectively), and several proposed etymologies.
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989), cites Jackson W. Granholm's 1962 "How to Design a Kludge" article in the American computer magazine Datamation.
kludge /kluːdʒ/ Also kluge. (J. W. Granholm's jocular invention: see first quot.; cf. also bodge v., fudge v.)
'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'. ...
OED defines these two kludge cognates as: bodge 'to patch or mend clumsily' and fudge 'to fit together or adjust in a clumsy, makeshift, or dishonest manner'. The OED entry also includes the verb kludge ('to improvise with a kludge or kludges') and kludgemanship ('skill in designing or applying kludges').
Granholm humorously imagined a fictitious source for the term:
Phineas Burling is the chief calligrapher with the Fink and Wiggles Publishing Company, Inc. ... According to Burling, the word "kludge" first appeared in the English language in the early fifteen-hundreds. ... The word "kludge" is, according to Burling, derived from the same root as the German klug (Dutch kloog, Swedish klag, Danish klog, Gothic klaugen, Lettish [Latvian] kladnis and Sanskrit veklaunn), originally meaning 'smart' or 'witty'. In the typical machinations of language in evolutionary growth, the word "kludge" eventually came to mean 'not so smart' or 'pretty ridiculous' .... Today "kludge" forms one of the most beloved words in design terminology, and it stands ready for handy application to the work of anyone who gins up 110-volt circuitry to plug into the 220 VAC source. The building of a kludge, however, is not work for amateurs.
Although OED accepts Granholm's coinage of the term (not the fanciful pseudo-etymology quoted above), there are examples of its use before the 1960s.