What qualify's who in being a nerd?

[spidersilva]

Stereotypes in being a nerd is someone who plays video games, into comics, smart and stuff but a lot of people play video games, even gangsters when there all smoking and drinking and kicking back, but some would not see them as nerds. People who go to the comic con would be accused of being nerds. Anyways in your own words what is a nerd?

[Netjet!]

Moved to Critical thinking.

[Emithith]

While we're at it, please define Geek, and Nerd and differentiate them. I would love to know the difference, and why people say I am a geek.

[UserNameGoesHere]

Why is this in critical thinking?

Those things described would be a geek, not a nerd. A geek has come to mean someone who has specialized interests in certain things which include any of but are not limited to comic books, video games (though as this becomes more mainstream it becomes less "geeky"), specialized card games (anything other than your "standard" playing cards), poetry, literature (other than whatever's mainstream popular), and so forth. Basically it is someone who has interests other than whatever's "mainstream popular" and which interests are looked down upon by stereotypical "jock" types and so forth.

A nerd on the other hand, is someone who is good at any of the following but again, not necessarily limited to -- mathematics, science, physics, chemistry, biology, and so forth. This would typically be your "A student" as part of the requirement is not only an interest in but skill in certain areas.

I hope this clears things up. Those are by no means all-encompassing definitions but should give an idea. Also it's possible to be both.

Edit -- Yes I realize the word "geek" originally meant a type of circus performer who bites the heads off chickens. Words can and have changed meanings (and sometimes spellings) over time. I would say the meanings I gave here are the "correct" current meanings.

[Emithith]

nerd
   [nurd]
noun Slang.
1.
a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2.
an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.
Also, nurd.

Origin:
1960–65, Americanism; obscurely derived expressive formation

geek
[geek]
geek
  [geek]
noun Slang.
1.
a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
2.
a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
3.
a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.
Origin: 1915- 20; probably variant of geck (mainly Scots ) fool < Dutch or Low German gek
Related forms
geek·y, adjective

It seems it's gotten so convoluted that the street doesn't know what it means even though they use it.
A nerd is an anti-social person, that prefers to keep to their self, and "pursue anti-social activities" while a geek tends to just get top marks etc, and gets labelled because of it.

I am a "geek", but it wouldn't be true if people actually bothered to pay attention in class.

[foilman8805]

Originally Posted by Netjet!

Moved to Critical thinking.

Are you serious...

You think this thread is Critical Thinking material? Especially with that thread title? And the "content" of that OP? You're a terrible moderator.

[bmah]

foilman's not referring to you

[spidersilva]

Originally Posted by bmah

foilman's not referring to you

Right now I am drinking a mikes hard lemonade which explains my stupidity. sorry guys, sorry foilman. I'm just freaking bored guys.

[GG_Guru]

A geek is someone who's booksmart.

A nerd is like a person that spends time playing games and isn't very physically active.

I'm a nerd.

[spidersilva]

Originally Posted by GG_Guru

A geek is someone who's booksmart.

A nerd is like a person that spends time playing games and isn't very physically active.

I'm a nerd.

Is playing DDR being physically active? lol

[Izzy]

nerd
   [nurd]
noun Slang.
1.
a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2.
an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.
Also, nurd.

Origin:
1960–65, Americanism; obscurely derived expressive formation

These definitions don't really go well with one another. Someone who only has passion for one particular thing could still be smart and not irritating even if they are obsessed with an anti-social activity.

[GG_Guru]

I probably should have been a little more specific. A nerd would be more into computer/video type based games. Someone would define a nerd as a person that stayed home all day or someone who is not very socially active as opposed to a geek. Don't get me wrong though, you can still be a nerd and have friends but that idea would only be congruent if his or her friends were also placed in the same category. Some cases would disprove that theory but only by a few percentage because you would most likely never see a "nerd" among a group of socially active individuals otherwise referred to as "the popular kids" or the "cool people". It is very rare.

[SKG_Scintill]

Where does nasal talking come into this?

[supermousie]

When I say so.

Dr. Seuss invented the word 'nerd'.
"a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker too" If I Ran the Zoo (1950)

[iironiic]

To me, a nerd is one who aspires after academic goals, commonly seen in the math and science fields. They have that strive to challenge themselves whenever they can and usually come out to be one of the most successful people in life. I can easily consider myself as a nerd even though I am one of those "athletic, musically inclined, and popular" students in my graduating class. I am also not ashamed to admit that I am a nerd haha.

[Reincarnate]

"Nerd" and "geek" have overlapping territory imo, but to me "nerds" are a more driven, intellectual form of "geeks."

For instance, you could be a computer nerd, a science nerd, a chess nerd, a video game nerd, a math nerd, a music nerd, a literature/politics nerd, etc. To be a nerd, I think you need to have some sort of skill or intellect present in activities that are seen as mentally taxing.

That being said, I see "geeks" as losers. They aren't necessarily smart and they don't always understand the underlying principles of things -- they just have strong, obsessive, almost tunnel-visioned interests in niche activities. You could be a Star Trek geek, a Disney trivia geek, a stamp-collecting geek, etc.

To me, there's no such thing as a "Harry Potter nerd" -- just a "Harry Potter geek," because you aren't actually doing anything requiring any real skill.

It is possible to be either a nerd or a geek and not be socially inept (it's not necessarily a defining characteristic), but I would say that, empirically, geeks tend to be more inept than nerds.

[who_cares973]

Originally Posted by spidersilva

Right now I am drinking a mikes hard lemonade which explains my stupidity.

lmao are you an anorexic woman by any chance?

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

"Nerd" and "geek" have overlapping territory imo, but to me "nerds" are a more driven, intellectual form of "geeks."

For instance, you could be a computer nerd, a science nerd, a chess nerd, a video game nerd, a math nerd, a music nerd, a literature/politics nerd, etc. To be a nerd, I think you need to have some sort of skill or intellect present in activities that are seen as mentally taxing.

That being said, I see "geeks" as losers. They aren't necessarily smart and they don't always understand the underlying principles of things -- they just have strong, obsessive, almost tunnel-visioned interests in niche activities. You could be a Star Trek geek, a Disney trivia geek, a stamp-collecting geek, etc.

To me, there's no such thing as a "Harry Potter nerd" -- just a "Harry Potter geek," because you aren't actually doing anything requiring any real skill.

It is possible to be either a nerd or a geek and not be socially inept (it's not necessarily a defining characteristic), but I would say that, empirically, geeks tend to be more inept than nerds.

this is how i have always seen it.

[TheNoSoMan]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

"Nerd" and "geek" have overlapping territory imo, but to me "nerds" are a more driven, intellectual form of "geeks."

For instance, you could be a computer nerd, a science nerd, a chess nerd, a video game nerd, a math nerd, a music nerd, a literature/politics nerd, etc. To be a nerd, I think you need to have some sort of skill or intellect present in activities that are seen as mentally taxing.

That being said, I see "geeks" as losers. They aren't necessarily smart and they don't always understand the underlying principles of things -- they just have strong, obsessive, almost tunnel-visioned interests in niche activities. You could be a Star Trek geek, a Disney trivia geek, a stamp-collecting geek, etc.

To me, there's no such thing as a "Harry Potter nerd" -- just a "Harry Potter geek," because you aren't actually doing anything requiring any real skill.

It is possible to be either a nerd or a geek and not be socially inept (it's not necessarily a defining characteristic), but I would say that, empirically, geeks tend to be more inept than nerds.

^

But how did the stereotypes of nerds (huge glasses, scrawny body, nasal tone, socially inept, etc.) come into being. I'm curious about this.

[XCV]

Sums up my thoughts pretty well.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by TheNoSoMan

^

But how did the stereotypes of nerds (huge glasses, scrawny body, nasal tone, socially inept, etc.) come into being. I'm curious about this.

IMO it's an older stereotype. "Nerd" and "geek" used to be interchangeable for a long time, but with technology becoming more of a presence in our lives, the jargon split off once people noticed that there were really two types of dorks, here -- the kind who can actually do amazing shit, and the kind who are just obsessed over niche things. The scrawny-dork stereotype still exists in either category, but my point is that it's no longer an automatic assumption.