[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

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.


see also:
canonical dec frob random 

Crufty >> C Words
Crufty, definition of term: Crufty
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