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From: stuart@rochester.UUCP (Stuart Friedberg)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Kludge and dictionaries
Message-ID: <7075@rochester.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 6-Mar-85 21:30:08 EST
Article-I.D.: rocheste.7075
Posted: Wed Mar  6 21:30:08 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 20:15:18 EST
References: <906@ratex.UUCP> <220@vaxwaller.UUCP> <2314@mit-hermes.ARPA>
Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept.
Lines: 25

> I have heard the suggestion that "kludge" derives from the name of the Kluge
> printing machinery company, whose products (at least one of which is in
> student hands here at MIT) are of fearsome complexity.
> 			John Purbrick

If anyone is following this up and getting back to the Webster
dictionary editors, "kludge" ("kluge") was a common term at least as
early as World War II.  I have a couple of "I Was There" cartoon books
by Bob Stevens.  In one of them he gives an illustrated vocabulary of
wartime jargon.  Kludge is one of the entries.  I don't recall the
description he gave for it, but the essence was of a Rube Goldberg-
style affair whose sole virtue was the fact that it got the job done,
typically thrown together out of odds and ends and whatever happened to
fit and horrifying to the eyes of a technical inspector.

Obviously "kludge" has been taken to heart by the modern computer
community, but I have no difficulty seeing where we might have gotten
it from mechanics and technical Mr. Fix-It's of 20 - 30 years ago.  I'm
surprised that Webster's didn't already have it, from this background.
And, of course, the origin given by John Purbrick is probably
completely compatible with the "war story", although it would require
that the Kluge printing machinery company have produced such monsters
before (say) 1945.

Stu Friedberg  {seismo, allegra}!rochester!stuart  stuart@rochester