Geeks vs. Nerds 31
GUNTHER asks: "I've always wondered what the difference is between a "Geek" and a "Nerd." I think of a geek as one who is interested in sci-fi, computers, role-playing, anime, and the like. I think of a nerd as one who is interested in math, physics, and technology. I consider myself much more of a nerd than a geek. I've done a bit of searching on the net for the difference and everyone seems to have a different opinion. Some say that nerds are just social outcasts. Some say that geeks are just arty nerds. Slashdot is "News for Nerds" but most people here seem to refer to themselves as geeks. What do you think, is there a difference between the terms? Which do you prefer (if you prefer either)?"
Card carrying NERD (Score:1)
I don't like geek, as it does have old, and rather disparging meanings. Nerd seems to have a more honorable history, one (likey wrong) story is that it started out as Knurd, or drunK reversed, and was used to reffer to those that would rather study than party.
Anyhow when it came time to name our team, the challenge was coming up with a good bacronym...
Re:Geeks and Nerds (Score:1)
geek = nerd + socialskills; (Score:1)
A geek is a nerd with social skills!
not much difference (Score:1)
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oh yeah (Score:2)
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Enjoyment is the key (Score:1)
Louis Wu
"Where do you want to go ...
Geek Code (Score:1)
Re:FUCK NERDS (Score:2)
A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."
Proud of it? (Score:1)
Geek is "self-made"... people specifically made themselves to be a computer/physics geek because of their interest. And they adopt certain styles of clothing and ways of speaking. But nerd is what they "born" with it. It's part of their personality. Both terms are always related to science, technology and arts. But never apply to economics and business...
How does this sound... Economics Geek? Kind of weird, right?
Well... (Score:1)
Nerds and Geeks may both have similar interests (i.e. computing, star trek, physics, etc), however a Geek is someone who is socially inept. Geek's tend to have poor interpersonal skills, which makes it very hard for them to have a social life. Nerds, on the other hand, are quite social creatures and tend to have friends in the nerd kingdom and in the non-nerd kingdom as well. Geeks tend to be loners, or have few friends. Nerds can be the life of the party, although it is rare.
Example: Nerd
Example: Geek
Thoughts?
Same Now (Score:1)
Geeks and Nerds (Score:3)
Re:Well... (Score:2)
The connotation of `nerd,' etemologically, has ALWAYS been that of "an outcast," a person who doesn't fit in because of their brains/mannerisms.
the original connotation of geek was a carnie guy who ate the heads of bats, chicken, and other small mammals & birds, much like some death metal bands we all know about.
however, seeing as how those kinds of things don't happen, geek has been redefined.
i take geek as a compliment. i call myself geek. women can call me geek when they smile at me after i fix their computer. geeks know what they're doing with (insert subject of interest here), but they also have some amount of social ability that varies from geek to geek.
at least, that's how i see it.
My take on geek v nerd (Score:1)
Nerd is a geek, but none of the socially redeeming properties.
Geek can be a compliment, but nerd is immediately an insult. Usage of geek is similar to nigger. Only people who it applies to can call someone one. Geeks can call other people geeks without problem, but someone who's not a geek calls someone a geek, its an insult.
Geek-whore (Score:1)
I keep a list of all the honey's in my palm db, so I can quickly generate reports of my most likely opportunities every night.
They like it when I tell them how long I can stay up (33 days so far... Take that ms, err viagra)
I just have to be careful when talking about open source (they keep thinking I'm talking about "open sores"...)
Re:Yet, (Score:1)
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Re:Geeks and Nerds (Score:1)
mmm... lightbulbs... (Score:1)
IIRC... (Score:1)
And a geek is someone whose life revolves around computers and technology, and likes it.
These opinions are my own and not necessarily
The Geek Secession, or 'How the Geeks Got Cool' (Score:2)
Then in the 90s something happened. Perhaps as we got older, and certain new fields of knowledge grew, a distinction began to be made. At once, humanities enthusiasts were called "nerds", and technology enthusiasts began to be called "geeks".
Now, what happened, and no one denies it, is that the "geeks" began to become more important than the "nerds". Computers were an expanding world, and were encroaching ever faster into every professional and personal arena. Consequently, geeks got good-paying jobs. So, not only did geeks begin to get a lot of money, but they also started working with other geeks. As a result, they were able to bond. And they were able to do the things they secretly wanted to do -- buy cool cars, get nice clothes, hang out with lots of friends, go out to places in groups. In short, they began to feel successful, and most importantly, desirable.
For the most part, the nerds didn't care. They enjoyed doing what they were doing. It hurt to think that they had missed out on The Big Secret -- but they were still happy doing what they were already doing. Some became geekish in limited extents.
But what happened between geeks and nerds is that the geeks started to feel popular. They realized that they had broken the social glass ceiling (even if only due to some coincidental and uncertain shifts in modern industry). And a peculiar thing happened to geeks, as happens to all those who become popular: they needed someone to pick on. And that group was the nerds. And the term "geek" became owned by that community, and was lifted, at least among themselves, as a title of triumph; of superiority in power and significance, and success. And "nerd" became a sign of past sorrow and failure, of the pathetic creatures "we once were", before the world decided to make them (the geeks) feel important.
Nerds are the ones who are unpopular. Nerds are the ones who no one likes, and who talk about things no one else cares about. Nerds are the ones who aren't making all the money. They're the ones that missed the boat and fell behind. No one today, not even geeks, would be willing to call themselves a "nerd", but "geek" is a badge of pride.
Nerds are now the estranged old friends of the geeks. The geeks look down on them, as if they can no longer understand their way of life. They say, if only you had gone this way or that way. If only you could bring yourself up. If only you could be more like us. Despite the fact that we simply just got lucky.
I'm a nerd/geek.
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Re:Proud of it? (Score:1)
nerds, geeks, chickens, and local definitions (Score:1)
I think I've always more or less agreed with Ryan's definition of nerd and geek. That is, nerds like computers, math, physics, and generally knowing how things work and fit together; geeks like role-playing, anime, and science fiction. I would consider myself a nerd; I would probably be vaguely offended if someone called me a geek, although there doesn't seem to be an agreed-upon definition... It would be much simpler if we would all agree that "geek" means "one who bites the heads off chickens."
I wonder if the definitions of "nerd" and "geek" vary from one locality to another; if not, then there must be some isolated pocket of weirdness surrounding Louisville - or certain parts thereof - in which the definitions are generally assumed to be reversed. Since it is not unknown for things in Kentucky to be backward, I suppose that is a distinct possibility
It appears that many people agree that a nerd is singlemindedly focused on one thing. That is almost exactly the opposite of what I would have said. I usually think of a nerd as someone with a wide variety of interests.
There also seems to be some debate over whether it is more socially acceptable to be a nerd or a geek, although the general consensus on Slashdot appears to be that geeks are more socially acceptable. I would have thought nerds are more socially acceptable, although geeks may be very acceptable within their own circles... On the other hand, perhaps being a geek (by Ryan's definition) does involve more inherently social actions (role-playing, watching anime) than being a nerd. That is one thing that comes to mind.... nerds do not necessarily do nerdy things when they're together. Writing code for some numerical or scientific task, for instance, is not a thing that many people would consider a fun group activity. Still, I don't think nerds are socially limited as some of the quotes indicate. I consider myself a nerd, and I have some vague semblance of a social life.... At least, I have a girlfriend.
Also, I wouldn't limit "nerdness" ("nerddom?") to interest in math, physics, or technology. I think there can be history nerds, literature nerds... although I think other sorts of nerds seem to be less willing to have the term "nerd" applied to them. In general, though, I would characterize most nerds as having an interest in more than one field... It seems like the Jargon file has some sort of description of hackers as being unusually knowledgeable about subjects outside of computing. That would seem to be a general characteristic of nerds, to me.
In short, I would consider myself and most of my friends nerds but not geeks. And I don't consider "nerd" an insulting term... Given that Slashdot is "News for Nerds," it would appear that at least a few people agree with me on that point.
Re:I prefer neither.. (Score:1)
ARandomSubject (Score:1)
Re: Geeks v Nerds (Score:1)
Used to be a nerd, now a geek (Score:1)
The Jargon Files Says... (Score:2)
nerd n.
1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.
2. [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what's really important and interesting and doesn't care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games. Compare the two senses of computer geek.
The word itself appears to derive from the lines "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo / And Bring Back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!" in the Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran the Zoo" (1950). (The spellings `nurd' and `gnurd' also used to be current at MIT.) How it developed its mainstream meaning is unclear, but sense 1 seems to have entered mass culture in the early 1970s (there are reports that in the mid-1960s it meant roughly "annoying misfit" without the connotation of intelligence).
An IEEE Spectrum article (4/95, page 16) once derived `nerd' in its variant form `knurd' from the word `drunk' backwards, but this bears all the hallmarks of a bogus folk etymology.
Hackers developed sense 2 in self-defense perhaps ten years later, and some actually wear "Nerd Pride" buttons, only half as a joke. At MIT one can find not only buttons but (what else?) pocket protectors bearing the slogan and the MIT seal.
computer geek n.
1. One who eats (computer) bugs for a living. One who fulfills all the dreariest negative stereotypes about hackers: an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a cheese grater. Cannot be used by outsiders without implied insult to all hackers; compare black-on-black vs. white-on-black usage of `nigger'. A computer geek may be either a fundamentally clueless individual or a proto-hacker in larval stage. Also called `turbo nerd', `turbo geek'. See also propeller head, clustergeeking, geek out, wannabee, terminal junkie, spod, weenie.
2. Some self-described computer geeks use this term in a positive sense and protest sense 1 (this seems to have been a post-1990 development). For one such argument, see http://samsara.circus.com/~omni/geek.html [circus.com]. See also geek code.
Okay, I got moderated down by a non-geek... (Score:1)
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Geeks tend to be more social, IMHO (Score:1)
My Nerd/Geek conversion (Score:1)
I learned to program in BASIC on a TI-99 and an Apple][e. Overnight, I was a nerd. At the time, I hated being different. So, I tried to be what I thought that people expected of me, I goofed off. I got loud in class. I still got accepetable grades, but I didn't stand out. In Jr. High, I got even worse. I was the first one to get into a fight because people thought that they could pick on me because I was a nerd. One time I got into a fight, while serving 3 days of in-school suspension which I had gotten for fighting.
It took me years to be able to wear my nerdiness/geekhood as a badge of honor instead of treating it like a curse.
LK