Bodge

From Middle English bocchen ("to mend, patch up, repair"), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen ("to repair, patch") (Modern Dutch: botsen ("to strike, beat, knock together")), related to Old High German bōzan ("to beat"), See beat; or perhaps from Old English bōtettan ("to improve, repair"), Old English bōtian ("to get better"). More at boot.

Full definition of bodge

Verb

1. (British) To do a clumsy or inelegant job, usually as a temporary repair; patch up; repair, mend
• All the actions of his life are like so many things bodged in without any natural cadence or connexion at all. — (A book of characters, selected from the writings of Overbury, Earle, and Butler, Thomas Overbury and John Earle, 1865)
• Some cars were neglected, others bodged to keep them running with inevitable consequences — (Original Porsche 356: The Restorer's Guide, Laurence Meredith, 2003)
• Do not be satisfied with a bodged job, set yourself professional goals and standards — (The Restauration Handbook, Enric Roselló, 2007)
2. To work green wood using traditional country methods; to perform the craft of a bodger.
• 1978, John Geraint Jenkins, Traditional Country Craftsmen, page 16, ISBN 0710087268.His father, grandfather and countless generations before him had obtained a living from chair bodging in the solitude of the beech glades.
• 1989, John Birchard, "The artful bodger", American Woodworker, page 41, May-June."Bodging is more a curiosity than a valid craft these days," says Don. "But experience in low-tech woodworking is also a good way for the beginner to start getting a feel for turning without having to make a huge investment in a modern lathe."
• 2000, Beth Robinson Bosk, The New Settler Interviews: Boogie at the Brink, ISBN 189013239X.Which is no different than my chair bodging, in that I can go out into the woodland and do my work without having to be tied in to a village shop situation.

Noun

1. A clumsy or inelegant job, usually a temporary repair; a patch, a repair
• , 2011-02-22, Cory Doctorow, , The simple tool above provides a low-tech bodge to help people locate missing friends and family in Christchurch following today's terrible earthquake.

Related terms

• bodger
• botch

Derived terms

• bodge job

Unknown

Noun

1. (historical) The water in which a smith would quench items heated in a forge.
2. (South East England) A four wheeled handcart used for transporting goods. Also a home made go-cart.

Adjective

1. (slang, Northern Ireland) insane or off the rails