Does anyone recall the real French-based word that describes MacGyver’s skill set?
It was like re…age, ra…age or de…age, but I can’t remember it.
I found it. Bricolage.
Nah, I’m good with “MacGyvering” as the verb. His name is thoroughly synonymous with that particular aptitude.
Claptrap and kludgery, auf Anglais.
Well, bricoler means tinkering or repairing stuff in general ; but it typically involves more bona fide tools than MacGuyver had on hand in the typical episode.
Other options would be : débrouillardise (lit. “unfogging ability”) or its synonym système D. Making do with what you’ve got is “se démerder/débrouiller” (the first meaning “to unbeshit oneself”. French is a beautiful language :))
I was thinking makeshift, re-purpose, improvise, etc.
According to Wikipedia, bricolage took on this specific meaning when it was borrowed into English.
Wiktionary (English) gives the definitions,
[ol]
[li]Construction using whatever was available at the time.[/li][li]Something constructed using whatever was available at the time.[/li][/ol]