British and Commonwealth slang for a clumsy fix or quick-and-dirty job, also used as a verb. A bodge might be a wedge of shim stock in a worn slide, a hose clamp on a cracked bracket or a part made by eye. It implies the work is temporary, even when everyone knows it will stay for years.
Heard on the job
It's a bodge, but the shim behind the gib will get us through the week until the new one comes.
Also heard as
- bodge job
- kludge
Related terms
Bubblegum and baling wire
Describes a repair or machine held together by improvised, makeshift fixes that should not still be working.
Fabricobble
To fabricate something by cobbling it together from scrap and whatever is lying around.
Grinder and paint
Shop saying that a grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't, for hiding ugly welds.
Dog's breakfast
A complete mess: a badly organized job, a tangled setup or a botched piece of work.