Yeah, “Jew him down” is WAY worse than “slightly impolite”. I grew up in a family where that phrase, along with “nigger rig”, was used routinely. I can’t imagine actually saying either of them.
Anyway, I’m an IT guy, and I first heard “kludge” in the context of my job. But it’s now my go-to word for any inelegant but effective solution to a problem, IT related or not. A kludge can be a permanent fix. My Corvair sports a number of kludges I’m quite proud of. And “kludge” can be a noun as well as a verb. The adjectival form, of course, is “kludgey”. It’s a wonderful word!
So? The phrase is not a mild insult, even when directed at no one in particular. Just because the action is worse doesn’t change that. I wasn’t even comparing the two. I was saying that anyone who has experienced antisemitic crap would never have that POV.
In the UK, we might say “lash-up” which sounds a bit nautical, rather similar to “jury rigged”, and implies something serviceable and relatively durable, if inelegant.