I'm not a geek

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
Both nerd and geek were derogatory and fit social categories such as jock, social butterflies, art geek, music nerd, math nerd, freaks, burnouts...etc.

nerd and geek symbolized anti-jock attributes. It was ridiculed and belittled.

somewhere along the way it became sort of okay to have aspergers and be obsessive compulsive.

Revenge of the nerds portrayed many of the stereotypes we associate with geeks or nerds. It doesn’t matter which you relate to or glorify. I’m sure I’ve been called all of those things and more, I say wear it with pride, whichever they used I’m sure they were wrong.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
“Shakes Head”

The DID activated.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously referred to as multiple personality disorder, is a dissociative disorder involving a disturbance of identity in which two or more separate and distinct personality states (or identities) control an individual’s behavior at different times. When under the control of one identity, a person is usually unable to remember some of the events that occurred while other personalities were in control. The different identities, referred to as alters, may exhibit differences in speech, mannerisms, attitudes, thoughts and gender orientation. The alters may even present physical differences, such as allergies, right-or-left handedness or the need for eyeglass prescriptions. These differences between alters are often quite striking
My “Nerd” learned about the “Geek” all because of this ”Thread” nice job @strantor

It’s taken a lot of therapy to get to this point, now I have to go back……………….

kv o_O
 

geekoftheweek

Joined Oct 6, 2013
1,201
I wish this thread was around before I signed up. My username would be a bit different.
I do confess I spent way more time than I should have smoking myself into an altered state and playing various games on PlayStation with friends in my younger days. We all got up before the sun and went to work every day though too.
Nerd and geek were pretty much interchangeable here as far as I knew. Maybe things have changed and I missed it.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,079
Since the semantics of non-technical words is entirely based on usage, there is, and can be no, definitive answer to this question without the social context in which is arises. While technical terminology used in a technical context is prescribed by a standard or a convention, informal words get their meanings dynamically and without regard to the formalities of etymology or previous meanings.

In my milieu, the distinction between geek and nerd, when one is drawn, is the level of social acceptability of the referent. Both could be unacceptable to the general group but geeks are almost necessarily so. A geek could be a nerd that doesn’t meet dress or grooming standards, for example.

But a nerd could be a person who is otherwise integrated into the social norm for appearance and behavior but with a very strong technical interest beyond the ordinary. While when talk about about geeks vs. nerds is often focuses on particular technical pursuits (e.g.: computers, chemistry, physics, etc.) most people not connected to the general world of nerdiness seem to think it is always about technology.

This doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. If geeks are nerds with no functional attachment to the social milieu they orbit, nerds are often socially popular people with some technical interest that is distinguished from the group either by intensity or obscurity.

For example, in the most ordinary case you might hear something like “get Bill to fix it, he’s a total computer nerd”, referring to a person who is otehrwise indistinguishable from the people in his social circle. But, an alternative scenario, in which Bill is structurally connected to the group, but not integrated, the suggestion to get help from him might be met with something like “Bill? That geek slobbers all over my computer and doesn’t use deodorant”.

While etymology is certainly not destiny, the source of geek, in the form of circus geek is suggestive of an outsider who is more like a creature than a member of the group. After all, circus geeks bit the heads of live animals as part of their performance.

One more point, if there was one woman in a friends circle who happened to be specially interested in hair care, I would not be at all surprised to hear “you should get Brittany to help with that dryness problem, she is a total hair nerd”, though I would be surprised to her geek in place of nerd in that utterance.

So, bottom line for me as I have absorbed the distinction, geeks tend to be socially unacceptable people (usually in appearance and with interpersonal awkwardness) while nerds may share the relatively obsessive interest in some topic that has technicalities normally uninvestigated but they do not share the social ostracization experienced by geeks.

Sorry for the nerdy explanation, I hope you don’t find this geeky.

[EDIT: for clarity, typos, and fun.]
 
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Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,079
Oh, and I forgot to add that a person who would otherwise be a nerd but the speaker doesn’t want to belittle or insult is called a wonk. Most often heard as policy wonk but applicable to any field that has some gravitas.
 

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
Since the semantics of non-technical words is entirely based on usage, there is, and can be no, definitive answer to this question without the social context in which is arises. While technical terminology used in a technical context is prescribed by a standard or a convention, informal words get their meanings dynamically and without regard to the formalities of etymology or previous meanings.
What a soup sandwich. You're right of course. I want there to be technical words to replace these non-technical words. Non-interchangeable words with clear definitions.

Word #1: someone with intense interest in fiction. Someone who LARPs. Someone who memorizes entire seasons of Star Trek dialog. Someone who misses their brother's wedding because they had a Dungeons and Dragons meet up that they couldn't get out of. Someone who pays $1,500 for a "gaming chair" and then surrounds it with piss bottles because they can't pause the game.

Word #2: someone with intense interest in science and/or technology. Someone who teaches themselves advanced physics on their own time because they're after knowledge more than a document and university takes too long. Someone who builds an electric car, markets it, sells it, becomes the richest person the world, and then builds rockets. Someone who knows a programming language. Someone who can connect a laptop to a car and change how it operates.

I'm in the 2nd group and tired of being confused for the first. As I'm sure people in the first group are tired of being expexcted to have any useful skill or knowledge, perpetually disappointing those who confuse them with the 2nd group.

I would appreciate if someone else would come up with the words or introduce me to them if they already exist. Etymology isn't my thing.
 

jgessling

Joined Jul 31, 2009
82
That movie came from prelinger.org, not to be confused with

https://prelingerlibrary.org

Except for the name of course. I just found about this one recently. They have some unusual ideas for a library. Like collecting more than just books and being open to anyone who is brave enough to push the doorbell. Physically located in South of Market San Francisco. Go on in and browse. Everything is open to be copied how ever you like. What a treat.

The various similarly named archives can be discovered here.

https://prelingerlibrary.org/home/about/disambiguation/

Lots of fun however you slice it
Enjoy!
 
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