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Simp

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For other uses, see Simp (disambiguation).

In internet slang, a simp is a person (often male)[1] who is excessively deferential, engages in flattery, or "does way too much for a person they like",[2][3][4] sometimes with the ulterior motive of courtship towards an intimate relationship or sexual intercourse.[5][6] This behavior, referred to as simping, has been described as an "openly thirsty version of stanning".[5]

Origins

Originally a shortening of "simpleton", a definition from the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English places its first known usage of the term in 1946.[7] However, it had appeared in the New York Times as early as 1923;[8][9] on May 14 of that year, a letter was published in which one Lillian Henderson criticized members of the Atlantic City Widowers' Association and a then-defunct bachelors' club in the same city.

Those bachelor simps are afraid to take a chance and too tight to share their earnings with a wife.[9]

Its current definition, carrying the connotation that someone was "soft" and "overly sympathetic", began to see use in rap lyrics by the 1980s.[8] Too Short, a West Coast rapper active in the 80s, described a simp as being like "a knockoff pimp", and said that its common usage in 2020 was basically equivalent to his meaning of the term.[8] In 1999, it was used in the Three 6 Mafia song "Sippin' on Some Syrup" as "an antonym for pimp";[10] by 2005 it had begun to see limited use on the Internet.[10] However, some definitions were "more telling of its 20th century origins", including the backronym "Sucker Idolizing Mediocre Pussy".[10][11] In July 2020, the New York Times described the term as "pretty old".[8]

The word continued to be used by rappers into the 2010s, and was used occasionally on the Internet, but would not see wide popularity until 2019, when popular TikTok users began to meme about simps.[8] Tiago Garcia-Arenas, a TikTok user with over two million followers who released a song named "Simp" in 2020, described the simp to the New York Times in July 2020 as "someone that puts like, woman on a pedestal".[8] Nelson Cam, another TikTok user, said that simps were "guys that spend a lot of money on girls and get nothing in return."[8]

Contemporary usage

According to The Tab, "the simp has come to take the place of the softboi",[6] describing him as "a boy who is a romantic failure [...] definitely the type of boy you'd tell the girls is 'a little too nice'", and "probably doesn't even have a lads' group chat".[6] The term came to see wide popularity on other websites, such as Twitch and Twitter; Anna María at The Daily Dot writes, "only Twitter could take decades-old niche slang like 'simp' and make it look like a new viral meme".[1]

In July, the official Twitter account for Archie Comics said that it would permanently ban people from its YouTube channel for comments calling the comics' main character, Archie Andrews, a simp.[12] The A.V. Club opined that, while it was "pretty safe to say that Archie Andrews is, quite simply, the simpiest of the simps", no such comments could be found on the comics' YouTube channel, and the Twitter post was likely an attempt at exploiting the Streisand effect for viral marketing.[12]

In August, Australian politician Bill Shorten used the term on national television, saying on an ABC segment that Prime Minister Scott Morrison needed "to make sure he doesn't look like he's just a simp to Donald Trump".[10]

In September, posters on Reddit created a pledge called "No Simp September", similar to No Nut November (a month-long abstention from masturbation). Participation in "No Simp September" required posters to abstain from upvoting women's photos, watching pornography, and "giving money to online sex workers", including "e-girls".[3] In October, Mikael Thalen at The Daily Dot described Twitter users as "simping hard" over leaked photos of Hunter Biden,[13] and in that same month, The Blemish called the word a "global sensation", christening the "Era of the Simp".[14]

A November 20 article in Vox about posting cringe on TikTok discusses the "Mr. Simp Sexual" character of Los Angeles TikTok user Nate Varrone, one of the "parody cringe" genre's "biggest stars". The character, for whom Varrone created an "elaborate backstory:[15]

He's from Michigan and he had a girlfriend named Melissa that he just wants back so fucking badly. He's just not in a good place right now, emotionally. I think he uses TikTok to fill the hole in his heart and find a new lover. The horniness this guy has, no human has ever felt that amount of horny in their entire life. It's like he has a curse. He thinks he has to hook up immediately or else he'll die.[15]

In January 2021, Vogue reported on an "adoring" Instagram account of self-declared "simps" expressing affection toward Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff.[16]

Reception

While the term initially denoted a specific kind of sycophant, upon achieving broad popularity, it began to see use as a general insult. In April 2020, an opinion piece in Men's Health described use of the term as "pretty messed up", and men who labeled others with the term as "entitled assholes", saying, "if you've ever complimented a woman, apparently you're a simp".[17] By May, The Tab stated that the term was being "used jokingly, sometimes to describe even the bare minimum level of respect between a man and a woman";[6] According to the Evening Standard, while "the term could also have some value if it undermines a culture of stringing people along emotionally", it also had "potentially offensive connotations".[18] María writes that while the term is mostly used "ironically and without misogynistic undertones", in some anti-feminist spaces, "it doesn't take much to be called a simp", and that "everything from pining after a crush to actually respecting women could be considered simping".[1]

TikTok user Nelson Cam, in a July 17 New York Times interview, also said that "I feel like a lot of guys saw this word as an opportunity to, whenever they're in an argument online with I guess, a male feminist or any male that's sticking up for woman's rights, they have an automatic weapon that they can just use.[8] According to The Blemish, "because people online have no originality, what started off as an innocent meme has become the number one insult to be found among conversations on Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram",[14] and that "a vast majority of simps aren't toxic, misogynistic creeps, they're just lonely guys desperate for some attention".[14]

Twitch prohibition

In May 2020, Kotaku reported that Twitch was "cracking down on" custom emotes using the word "simp", and had been "on a simp emote deleting spree" since late February.[5] Twitch often requires its "partners" to submit custom emotes for approval prior to users being permitted to embed them; most of these emotes simply depicted a streamer or a fictional character holding up a sign with "SIMP" written on it, or were rasterizations of the text of the word itself.[5] By December 2020, the word was described as a "favorite in the Twitch community" by The Verge.[19]

Twitch announced in December 2020 that administrative action would be taken against the accounts of streamers and commenters who used the word, along with "incel" and "virgin", claiming that those words were offensive;[20][4][21][2] Twitch COO Sara Clemens said during a "town hall" livestream that, while use of the words would be permitted under approved circumstances, Twitch would be "proactively denying" custom emotes that included the words.[19][4] This ban was part of a broader expansion of Twitch's list of forbidden content;[2] the policy, viewable on Twitch's website, also prohibited posting that "expresses inferiority" based on "moral deficiencies".[22] At the time of announcement, the policy was planned to take effect on January 22, 2021.[4][21][22]

Reception to the announcement and proposed policy changes was largely negative; Bryan Rolli at The Daily Dot wrote that Twitch would "probably have a hell of a time enforcing the 'simp' ban",[11] and Gizmodo stated that "actual simps and virgins [were] still welcome" on the streaming site.[20] Screen Rant states that a blanket ban on "simp", "incel" and "virgin" contrasts unfavorably with a "context is needed" policy on the much more offensive racial slur "nigger".[23] According to Ars Technica, Twitch has an "inconsistent history in responding to reports of problematic behavior".[2] In interviews with Kotaku, those affected by the ban described their channels' use of the term as mostly benign—one streamer said it was "mostly banter and, in some cases, a compliment".[5] Another streamer, while acknowledging that the word was sometimes used to describe "quite creepy" behavior, said her use of a "simp" emote was "mainly just a joke within my community".[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c María, Anna (3 June 2020). "Here's why people are calling each other 'simps' online". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Orland, Kyle (17 December 2020). "'Simp,' 'incel' part of newly banned insults on Twitch". Ars Technica. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b Sage, Jessie (11 September 2020). "Peepshow: No Simp September Frustrates Online Sex Workers". Pittsburgh Current. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Palmer, Ewan (17 December 2020). "Twitch Includes 'Incel' and 'Simp' As Banned Insults in Harassment Policy". Newsweek. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Grayson, Nathan (8 May 2020). "Twitch Is Cracking Down On Simp Emotes Over Harassment Fears". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Soen, Hayley (13 May 2020). "What exactly is a 'simp' and is my boyfriend one?". The Tab. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ Victor, Terry; Partridge, Eric; Dalzell, Tom (2006). The new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25937-1.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Marcus, Ezra; Bromwich, Jonah Engel (7 July 2020). "A Short History of 'Simp'". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Calls Bachelors 'Simps.': 'Afraid to Take a Chance,' Says Woman Referring to Club". The New York Times. 14 May 1923. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d Jones, Tegan (17 August 2020). "Bill Shorten Told Scott Morrison to not Look Like a 'Simp' on National TV". Gizmodo Australia. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b Rolli, Bryan (17 December 2020). "Twitch won't let you call people 'simp' anymore". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b Paul, Andrew (21 July 2020). "Call Archie a 'simp' at your own peril, warns Archie Comics". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  13. ^ Thalen, Mikael (14 October 2020). "People are simping hard over those Hunter Biden photos". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Laurence, Taylor (6 October 2020). "How Internet Nice Guys Evolved Into Today's Simps". The Blemish. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  15. ^ a b Jennings, Rebecca (20 November 2020). "Cringe TikTok is taking over". Vox. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  16. ^ Ruiz, Michelle (4 January 2021). "The Internet Thirst for Jon Ossoff Is Strong". Vogue. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  17. ^ Zane, Zachary (2 April 2020). "Here's What It Means When Someone Calls You a 'Simp'". Men's Health. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  18. ^ Mallinson, Tilda (28 May 2020). "What does 'simp' mean? The TikTok phrase explained". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  19. ^ a b Kastrenakes, Jacob (16 December 2020). "Twitch bans 'simp'". The Verge. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  20. ^ a b Provenzano, Brianna (16 December 2020). "Twitch Bans the Words 'Simp' and 'Virgin' (Actual Simps And Virgins Still Welcome)". Gizmodo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  21. ^ a b Winslow, Jeremy (17 December 2020). "Twitch Bans 'Simp,' 'Incel,' And More In New Harassment Policy Overhaul". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Harassment". Twitch.tv. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  23. ^ Ramos, Alexandra (17 December 2020). "Twitch Bans Words 'Simp' & 'Virgin' – But It Won't Ban the N-Word". Screen Rant. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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