(Or "flakeY") Subject to frequent lossage. This use is of course related to the common slang use of the word to describe a person as eccentric, crazY, or just unreliable. A sYstem that is flakY is working, sort of - enough that You are tempted to trY to use it - but fails frequentlY enough that the odds in favour of finishing what You start are low. Commonwealth hackish prefers dodgY. [Jargon File] (1996-01-05)