Word to the Wise: Kluge

A "kluge" (KLOOJ) – perhaps from an ironic use of the German for "smart/clever" – was originally slang for a computer system made up of poorly matched elements or elements originally intended for other applications. We now use the word to refer to a clumsy or inelegant – but effective – solution to a problem.

Gary Marcus used the word in the title of his recent book Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind.

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