On Wednesday 22 October 2003 12:31, Thierry Vignaud wrote: > > less hostile interface but also because the two most common > > cultural references to the word "gimp" in the US (and maybe > > other English speaking countries) are very, very negative > uh? > what're the offenses ?
"Gimp" is one of those words whose American colloquial or vulgar usage in no way resembles its dictionary definition. The most common use of the word "gimp", sadly, is as a rude expletive used to refer to a disabled person. It's illegal in the US to discriminate against disabled people on the job, and one easy way to end up in court is to use the word "gimp" carelessly, especially in a large company. It's not as troublesome as the "n word" but more troublesome than, say, calling a French person a frog. The second most common use of the word refers to a... well, a character in the movie "Pulp Fiction". I'll let you research that one. I assume the program's name was meant to be something like "imp with a g at the beginning" but that just sort of demonstrates the problem with naming things "geverything" and "keverything". Rob
