Offensive nomenclature

I have never heard of this! and I live in a college town too. A "gimp" literally means someone who limps - seems a pretty accurate description to me, and I don't find it the least bit offensive. Really, people are too quick to get offended. Why would anyone be offended by what you call yourself!

I refer to myself as a gimp all the time. I always saw it as a light hearted way to refer to my occasional limp, or quick, easy way to explain why I can't do certain activities. "Oh, I've got gimpy knees." People understand that. If I say "I've got subluxating knee caps," no one is going to know what that means, and then I have to explain it, and all of a sudden the mood gets all heavy and depressing. Yuck.

Also keep in mind, even though we, in the U.S. share a language with the U.K., a lot of words carry very different meanings. Just think about the word "pants" for second.