# Please explain to me the Gimp in "Pulp Fiction" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384 "2011-10-12T03:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/1 "2011-10-12T03:50:33Z")
no such thing as a stupid question, right? is “gimp” a specific description or was it just a contrived character in the story? it was obviously an ensalved person but for what purpose? was it enslaved for sex or for some other purpose? is it mentally incapacitated by nature or rendered so? are there real-life cases? thank you. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/2 "2011-10-12T03:53:47Z")
Like what the glowing thing in the case is, you’re not supposed to know. It’s meant to make the viewer think “WTF?” ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/3 "2011-10-12T04:00:37Z")
According to [this YouTube video of Norm MacDonald doing a Tarantino impression](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZ8-ovfKc4), the character is kept in a trunk in the basement of some guy’s house, and he is used for deviant, hardcore, gay sex. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/4 "2011-10-12T04:02:08Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > no such thing as a stupid question, right? is “gimp” a specific description or was it just a contrived character in the story? it was obviously an ensalved person but for what purpose? was it enslaved for sex or for some other purpose? is it mentally incapacitated by nature or rendered so? are there real-life cases? > > thank you. Well he would have liked being ensalved based on what they were probably doing with him. There’s probably additional info out there about this character, but I take him for what I see in the movie. A chained up and gagged guy. I assumed he was being kept for sexual purposes, although not necessarily involuntarily since he wasn’t exactly helping when Bruce Willis was freeing himself. Mentally incapacitated? Kind of hard to tell with the way he was physically incapacitated. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/5 "2011-10-12T04:13:08Z")
Oh, it’s definitely a thing. I _dare_ you to Google it. Just make sure Safe Search is on. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/6 "2011-10-12T04:27:46Z")
> **[Bondage suit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimp_(sadomasochism))** > > A bondage suit, also commonly called a gimp suit, is a form-fitting garment designed to cover the body completely (usually including the hands and feet). It often has an attached hood; if it does not, it often is worn with a bondage hood or "gimp mask". The suit may be made from any material—leather, PVC, rubber, spandex, and darlexx are the most usual. > Catsuits may be worn in conjunction with corsets, bondage harnesses or other restraints as part of a bondage suit. > A bondage suit is sometimes ... ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/7 "2011-10-12T08:12:15Z")
more replies than i expected. thanks guys! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/8 "2011-10-12T14:38:55Z")
**Sage Rat** ’s link implies that the word’s use in connection with sexual bondage and S&M _originates_ with _Pulp Fiction_. Previously, [gimp seems to have meant a physically handicapped person](http://www.onelook.com/?w=gimp&ls=b&sourceid=Mozilla-search) (at least, that seems to be the old meaning that is the most likely to be relevant). I suppose being in bondage bears some analogy to being physically handicapped, or perhaps it is a reference to actual physically handicapped people being sexually exploited by able-bodied sadists. I don’t know whether Tarantino just made up the newer meaning, or if he was just popularizing a usage that was already extant in the S&M ‘community’. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/9 "2011-10-12T14:55:06Z")
The Gimp is Keyser Söze. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/10 "2011-10-12T15:10:38Z")
And he’s sleepin’. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/11 "2011-10-12T16:04:43Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > The Gimp is Keyser Söze. I’m not going to say this again. THERE IS NO KEYSER SOZE!!! and i don’t know how to do an umlaut.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/12 "2011-10-12T16:12:36Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > **Sage Rat** ’s link implies that the word’s use in connection with sexual bondage and S&M _originates_ with _Pulp Fiction_. The article also mentions a movie from 1992 (predating _Pulp Fiction_) where that type of suit appeared. So the question is whether it was called the same thing before. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/13 "2011-10-12T17:11:05Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m not going to say this again. THERE IS NO KEYSER SOZE!!! > and i don’t know how to do an umlaut.☹ The greatest trick the devil ever pulled… …was signing up on the SDMB as [No umlaut for U](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/14 "2011-10-12T17:24:10Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m not going to say this again. THERE IS NO KEYSER SOZE!!! > and i don’t know how to do an umlaut.☹ It’s easy. 1. Highlight the letter with the umlaut 2. Ctrl C 3. Ctrl V 4. Pröfit! ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/15 "2011-10-12T17:26:10Z")
Or, if there’s not one handy, hold down the ‘alt’ key and type 0246. 0214 is capital ö Ö ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/16 "2011-10-12T18:15:16Z")
But. . .why are there no umlauts in umlaut? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/17 "2011-10-12T18:55:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > But. . .why are there no umlauts in umlaut? That would be recürsive. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/18 "2011-10-12T19:24:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > But. . .why are there no umlauts in umlaut? Irönic, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/19 "2011-10-12T19:26:12Z")
Clearly the term “gimp” has long been in use prior to Pulp Fiction to mean a “crippled person”. As has the leather S&M bondage outfit he was wearing. The impression I got was that The Gimp was basically a simpleminded, animialistic, possibly metally retarded man who was probably going to rape the shit out of Butch and Marsellus. Possibly he was once normal and driven insane from the abuses of Zed & Co. Maybe he was always like that. Doesn’t matter since we aren’t really supposed to regard The Gimp as “human”. As to the “point”, I think it was just another one of those bizarre non-sequitors one typically finds in a Tarantino film. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384/20 "2011-10-12T19:59:57Z")
Yeah, I think the point is that these guys in the pawn shop were in to some strange shit and that Wallace’s and Butch’s day just took a turn for the worst. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-the-gimp-in-pulp-fiction/599384.md?page=2)