Can you speak geek about a word nerd?
by
Howard Richler
Is there a difference between a geek and a nerd?
This existential question
was posed to me last year by a friend. He had recently read an article in the New
York Times where the writer used these terms interchangeably. My friend
felt strongly that the two terms referred to slightly different people and checked
his Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary
that indicated that “the words do not mean the same kind of
person, although to my surprise nerd includes ‘unattractive’ person in the
definition and geek does not, which I would have thought was the other way
around. ”
To my mind,
most people would give a geek a slightly higher status than a nerd. While
both terms imply obsession with a particular activity, for me the obsession that the geek possesses
comes also with knowledge of his subject whereas I don’t necessarily regard the
nerd as being equally knowledgeable.Also, I view a geek as more hireable than a nerd. Although the terms
“computer nerd” and “computer geek” are often interchangeable, I wouldn’t
describe Mark Zuckerberg as a computer nerd but only as a “computer geek.”
What I am reflecting here is
not so much the actual meaning of
these words but the way in which I and every speaker employs particular words.
I know people who ascribe a higher status to the term nerd than to geek. Dictionaries
are not that helpful in settling this debate. OED defines “nerd” as “an insignificant, foolish, or socially inept
person; a person who is boringly conventional or studious” whereas the Encarta World English Dictionary (EWED)
characterizes a nerd as “an offensive term that deliberately insults
somebody’s, especially a man or boy’s social skills or intelligence.” It also
mentions that a nerd can be a “single-minded enthusiast.” For “geek,” the OED says “Frequently depreciative.
An overly diligent, unsociable student; any unsociable person obsessively
devoted to a particular pursuit” and EWED
says a “geek” is “someone who is considered unattractive and socially awkward.”
One can see from these
definitions that some people would view the two terms as synonymous and others
would not.
In any case I believe that
due to the fact that many people who were labeled geeks or nerds in high school
went on to become very wealthy imparted a higher status to these words. After
all, being a billionaire is seen as cool in society notwithstanding that the
billionaire may be a geek or a nerd.
Both words have interesting
etymologies. The first OED citation
of geek is in 1876 in a glossary of words from northern England where it is
defined as “a fool” a person uncultivated; a dupe.” It was also used in the
United States for a good part of the 20th century to refer to circus performers
who performed bizarre feats such as biting of the head of a chicken. Its first
usage in the modern context occurs in a letter written in 1957 by writer Jack
Kerouac and the word is used in a clearly depreciative manner: “Unbelievable
number of events almost impossible to remember, including..Brooklyn College
wanted me to lecture to eager students and big geek questions to answer.” The
words origin is uncertain but it is generally believed to be a variation for
the word “geck,” a word that arose in the 16th century to refer to a
simpleton.
The word
“nerd” appears to have been derived from
a fictional animal found in Theodore Geisel’s
(aka Dr. Seuss) story If I Ran the Zoo written in 1950. This
creature was depicted as a small, unkempt, humanoid creature with a large head
and a comically disapproving expression. The following year Newsweek magazine stated, “In Detroit,
someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a
nerd.” The term, however did not become popular until the late ‘60s when it
became a shibboleth among college students and surfers to mark those considered
“uncool.”
P.S. I have no intention of changing the name of
this column from Word Nerd to Geek
Freak.
Howard Richler’s latest book is Wordplay:Arranged
and Deranged Wit
