Honest to gods, this conversation happened today, and it may have cost me a job opportunity. The customer was super impressed with my menu design and animation, and wanted to know who we got it from. When I said I did it, their face lit up! Too bad as soon as i said GIMP, they weren’t interested anymore. Has anyone else experienced this? What do you say in similar situations?
You must log in or # to comment.
“GIMP?? Like the suit?”
“What suit?”
Then watch them squirm.But you’re really just admitting that you haven’t seen Pulp Fiction, which is a major educational gap.
True, Quentin Tetrazzini saying the n-word is required viewing.
Someone should make fan edits of his films that just remove Tarantino from his films
It’s funny, because I’m not a native speaker and Gimp means… well… this software. I only learned what it meant years later.
Same. I knew what gimp suit was much later after I got introduced to GIMP.
I learnt about it 20 seconds before this comment.
What does it mean?
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!
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’.)
deleted by creator
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.
deleted by creator
How did you learn it? Did you maybe grow up in an English speaking community
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.
deleted by creator
-
deleted by creator
I don’t get it?
It’s a bondage term
deleted by creator
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.
Heck I learned this today
Maybe get in the habit of calling it by it’s full name initially. Then it seems like an unfortunate acronym instead of a software made by perverts. Note I’m fairly certain most software is made by perverts, and I’m including myself in that group.
deleted by creator
I am one of those that will just use literal meaning names, like MediaInfo.
Here’s one that I named:SubtitleAndReencodeWidgetJesus that was a throw back. Awesome app fyi
Anyone who tried to bring GIMP into nonprofits and schools dealt with this problem. I cannot explain how many uncomfortable conversations I had with non-technical people.
And the defenders will continue to say GIMP’s name is fine and still be shocked of the low adoption rate.
Maybe in America? I can tell you in most of the world, nobody would even think to give a fuck about the name, it doesn’t mean anything. The word “gimp” isn’t even popular enough.
This sounds like some weird copium: surely the app would take off and replace Photoshop long ago, if they just changed that damn name! There was one fork that thought that, with a different name, died shortly after creation. Because in reality nobody cares about the name.
I’m literally explaining to you the challenges I’ve had.
In many schools, I brought libre office and ubuntu into the classroom. I taught a whole generation of kids about open source.
Rather than recognizing that maybe there’s something off here, you shrug and say nobody really cares.
You’re part of the problem.
So what’s off there? What are the challenges you had? When one searches “gimp” in any search engine, they only get search results for the image editor. One has to really go out of their way to look into some dictionary to find out the supposed meanings, and even a dictionary does not mention that it’s a slur or anything, unless it’s Urban Dictionary. Which of the meanings is supposed to be the bad one that’s brought up?
And in any case, what would you realistically expect the GIMP project to do? The software is known worldwide for the past 30 years and the name is not a problem in the slightest in any of the non-anglophone countries. Throwing off their name and branding could be a project suicide, the rebrands are risky and I’d say don’t go too well that often.
Well, did you know there was a fork of gimp called glimpse, that was created because of that name?
Well… its abandoned now… So… apparently the name didn’t make it more popular.
[Edit: removed AI written articles about glimpse.]
https://web.archive.org/web/20191226042940/https://glimpse-editor.org/about/
https://web.archive.org/web/20230325235741/https://github.com/glimpse-editor
https://web.archive.org/web/20230325235732mp_/https://glimpse-editor.org/posts/a-project-on-hiatus/
…in English-speaking countries.
I experienced no such problems recommending GIMP to people/organisations.
I’d say it says more about the listener in that situation. GIMP is a great name for a GNU Image Manipulation Program, just like Fanny Pack perfectly describes a bag worn around the waist but you’d be surprised the looks you get in the UK for not calling it a “Bum Bag” instead.
The people the immediately assume it must have to do with sexual fetishes (or make that connection) just aren’t as familiar with what the rest of the world has been up to.
That has to be a US thing there’s no way anyone else is like that.
I work for a pretty button-down organisation and frankly they’re ridiculously obsessive about corporate stuff but even they wouldn’t blink at Gimp.
I’m reading the comments here and still have no clue what’s offensive about the word
Edit. Why don’t you just come back with ”what suit?”
Honestly, how do they know the negative connotation of the word gimp?
Because if you go to the dictionary definition it is the most inoffensive word. At its worst it means weak, an insult barely worse than dweeb and dork. It’s synonym with gumption, it comes from references to fabric, FFS. If you know what a gimpsuit is, or know gimp only as slang or an insult that’s on you and your ignorant perversions.
It’s GNU software. Fork it and name it however you want. That’s the freedom that the G in GIMP offers.
Yes. That is a freedom.
It’s also a big reason why it’s not taken seriously. If you want to get into the orgs comment OP mentioned, your deployment solution can’t be “vendor this forever by creating a downstream build pipeline that only changes the name.” All of the documentation and internet coverage is also going to be using the wrong anyway. Comment OP is talking about adoption, not software freedom.
GIMP but pronounce it JIMP, like GIF
This is the way
Now it sounds like a piece of IKEA furniture.
Enjoy our all new JÏMP chair.
Just pronounce it “JIMP” and watch the .gif pronounciation debate light up once again!
The G stands for GNU so maybe it’s NIMP or IMP
The G in GNU is pronounced.
You mean something like “ga-new”?
EDIT: apparently yes: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/pronunciation.en.html
And then along came Microsoft with the Zune and decided to have like this neat Nearby Share feature so you could like…share a song with a friend and their Zune - and called the feature “Squirting”.
It’s pronounced “JIMP” 😌
😒
Like gif, right?
maybe just say the G.I.M.P. or something. honestly as a non-english speaker the name Gimp sounds very good lol
deleted by creator
Not everyone speaks English, and there’s no one standard of English.
There’s British English, Singaporean English, Indian English, Malaysian English, etc. Forcing one standard of English does not seem correct.
Like, I’ve seen so many instances on Twitter of Westerner canceling Asian people for speaking “English Asia” (basically English but combined with their local language), just because they misunderstand the meaning of the tweet.
Why not rename it to Linux Image Manipulation Program?
Oh, wait…
Ok, then just Image Manipulation Program?
… oh shit.
LIMP and IMP aren’t even moving the proverbial scale on “weird name”.
It’s Linux so why not
Simple Open Creative Kit Software
SOCKS as an abbreviation is already in use for a proxy server protocol. ;)
What’s wrong with IMP?
When they make a non-GPL alternative to GIMP for the FreeBSD it will be called IMP.
It’s an unofficially reserved name.
short form of “
important”, “impressive”, “improve”, “impeccable”, “imp…?”
GNU Image Editor, GIE.
Wonder if that’s offensive in any language.Can this work?
- GLAM: GNU / Linux imAge Manipulation
- GLIDE: GNU/Linux Image DEvelopment
Or like Krita, no acronym whatsoever - just a cool name
deleted by creator
Lol, I suppose. One should stand their grounds and be proud of what they use. And if someone has a false impression of me because of that, correct it obviously and move on. Let them know that we aren’t as superficial as having names/words being held against us; that’s extremely judgmental.
I usually just say things like “I used an open source image editing tool. It’s like Photoshop, but free!” and then don’t elaborate further heh
If you’re pressed further just use its long name GNU image manipulator. It’s a unique name and every search engine will turn up the correct website for gimp when you search it. Or you could just use the letters. “I used Gee Eye Em Pee”
Using the long name (it’s actually GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a good idea, but I have never actually had anyone press for the actual name Not giving the name also means I don’t have to explain anything if I later used Inkscape or something else as those would also more or less fit the description I gave.
It’s >!Krita!<
what are you gonna do, ask for a refund?
I bet if it had a better name, more people would use and recommend it.
How hard would it be to fork it, and just change the name?
There’s been at least one attempt: https://www.theregister.com/2019/08/28/gimp_open_source_image_editor_forked_to_fix_problematic_name/
I believe that project died.
It did. Neither their website nor the github project page exist anymore.
I wish they’d upstream including the name.
recent upstream [GIMP] changes have moved in directions that don’t fit Artbox’s focus. […] Artbox will now remain as a stable, maintenance-only project. Updates will be limited to essential fixes or build adjustments when necessary. […] Without the need to maintain a rebase, I can simplify development and use AI-assisted refactoring to turn it into a lean, specialized digital painting application.
This doesn’t inspire much confidence in me that the project will see much regular enhancement and development.
Thanks for the link, the name is many times better, I wonder whether they improved the interface.
deleted by creator
That’s the most generic name I’ve ever heard.
Why not “TwoWords”? Same pattern, but honest.
I pronounce it Jimp… for this reason …and there’s precedent with Gif.
“Creatives Opensource Creat Kit” would be better
Creators’ UNified Toolkit
there’s precedent with Gif.
