this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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What does it mean?
From Wiktionary:
A person who is lame due to a crippling of the legs or feet.
(slang, derogatory) A name-calling word, generally for a person who is perceived to be inept, deficient or peculiar.
(BDSM) A submissive dressed in a full-body suit of latex or a similar material.
I'm vaguely sure the first two meanings above appeared earlier. ~~Perhaps the name was taken as a nod to ‘geek’ and ‘dweeb’, which were slurs for programmers back before the profession became mainstream.~~ Edit: apparently not: "The software was originally named the General Image Manipulation Program. Kimball and Mattis formed the acronym GIMP by adding the letter G to '-IMP,' inspired by a reference to 'the gimp' in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction."
Somewhat relatedly, Torvalds called his versioning software ‘git’, which is also a derogatory term, a British-specific one at that. (And the original name of Linux was 'Freax'.)
Merriam has the definition I knew it by before I saw Pulp Fiction, which is a synonym for limp. I think I was also vaguely aware it was an offensive word for someone disabled.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gimp
Yeah I'm a native speaker and read a ton as a kid, and then ended up being a lit major, so I guess my idea of what words are normal could be somewhat skewed. But I think that one I probably heard it from my dad.
Looks like the gimp usage peaked in the 1860s, at least in books.
ENGLISH, MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU SPEAK IT?
What?
Say "what" again. I dare you. I double dare you, motherfucker, say "what" one more god damn time!
I don’t get it?
It's a bondage term
A movie is a series of fast movies images paired with a soundtrack to make it look like its a real moving image. Pulp Fiction is a movie.
Characters are fictional people and things in a movie.
Gimp's sleeping
Graphics Image Manipulation Program. That what GIMP means.