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I must live under a rock, I'm under 30 and never heard it until this thread. I also had an old person moment, nearly yelling at the clouds about these made up

I must live under a rock, I'm under 30 and never heard it until this thread. I also had an old person moment, nearly yelling at the clouds about these made up words, but was grounded when they showed similar examples of 'fridge' and 'flu.'

dghughes 3y ago
I'm middle-aged and still dealing with what "simp" is.
- walteweiss 3y ago
  Is it short for simpleton?
  - tuatoru 3y ago
    It should be.
    - Prestophobia 3y ago
      IIRC it used to be but it kind of got mutated as people specifically called men who fawn over uninterested women simps until it was exclusively used for that case and similar. I wonder if other pieces of slang used to be broader than they are now.
  - simiones 3y ago
    Etymologically, it might be - it's not really clear. But the meaning is "to be (excessively) subservient to a person or cause" / "someone who is [...]". So a simp/simping is (an accusation of) being (excessively) in favor of a person or cause, such as simping for a character, an idol, a real person, or a political party. Especially used for men who praise a certain woman over and over.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    Etymologically, probably, but its most specifically, in its current popular use, about a person with a strong parasocial attachment to someone else, particularly one that is sexually-tinged. Very commonly used to describe relationships of devoted followers to social media figures.
- OfSanguineFire 3y ago
  I had known simp from tales of carnies (in carnie slang it was used for the suckers who lose money on rigged games) and so when I first saw it on Reddit as used by frustrated males, it was easy to make the connection. See etymology 1 at Wiktionary[0] with a first attestation from 1903! The people who know only the contemporary meaning must be orders of magnitude larger than those who knew the early 20th century word, though. [0] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/simp https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/simp

dghughes 3y ago

I'm middle-aged and still dealing with what "simp" is.

walteweiss 3y ago
Is it short for simpleton?
- tuatoru 3y ago
  It should be.
  - Prestophobia 3y ago
    IIRC it used to be but it kind of got mutated as people specifically called men who fawn over uninterested women simps until it was exclusively used for that case and similar. I wonder if other pieces of slang used to be broader than they are now.
- simiones 3y ago
  Etymologically, it might be - it's not really clear. But the meaning is "to be (excessively) subservient to a person or cause" / "someone who is [...]". So a simp/simping is (an accusation of) being (excessively) in favor of a person or cause, such as simping for a character, an idol, a real person, or a political party. Especially used for men who praise a certain woman over and over.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  Etymologically, probably, but its most specifically, in its current popular use, about a person with a strong parasocial attachment to someone else, particularly one that is sexually-tinged. Very commonly used to describe relationships of devoted followers to social media figures.
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
I had known simp from tales of carnies (in carnie slang it was used for the suckers who lose money on rigged games) and so when I first saw it on Reddit as used by frustrated males, it was easy to make the connection. See etymology 1 at Wiktionary[0] with a first attestation from 1903! The people who know only the contemporary meaning must be orders of magnitude larger than those who knew the early 20th century word, though. [0] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/simp https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/simp