Ok, so. Geek? Nerd?

[elionwyr]

What exactly is the difference?

(Yes, yes, I could just wikipedia it, but...I'm curious what y'all think.)

It seems to me that geek is more socially acceptable than nerd*. I mean, when I think "nerd" I think "Revenge of the Nerds" and pocket protectors; and when I think geek I think of many of my friends, none of whom wear pocket protectors.

What say you?



* Unless we're talking that X-Files episode, in which case, dude, I am SO not interested in continuing this discussion. shudder

Comments

[harkalark.livejournal.com]

I've heard it both ways, which one is the term for the cooler kind of person. And I lean towards the opposite of your interpretation. To me, "geek" is always negative, where "nerd" can be either way, negative in the eyes of jock-types but affectionate among fellow nerds (who are smart but awkward).

"Geek" also creates an image in my mind, a negative one, probably based on hearing Fred Blassie's song "Pencil Neck Geek" at an early age. Nerds seem more physically varied in my mind when I picture them (ranging from Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons to extremely hot Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

See, Willow is a geek, not a nerd.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

I agree.

[harkalark.livejournal.com]

And yet, the majority of articles written about the show at the time or since then talks about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer made being a nerd (and being smart, doing research to defeat demons, adept with computers, etc.) cool.

A sloppy test of what is popular and current thought was introduced to me not too long ago by a certain favorite author of mine, who happens to be very close friends with a certain singer who in 1994 said the following:
"I'm the Queen of the nerds. I love nerds- by which I mean, not a cool, bitchin' person. I guess I was a cool nerd. I wasn't shuffling my feet in the corner of the playground, I was the homecoming queen, but then, all the nerds voted for me."

Neil's admittedly sloppy Google comparison of what works and what doesn't is a good gauge of popular opinion, how much one agrees with it or not. The measurement is based on how many hits a particular search turns up in Google. Like if you wanted to look up "Glenn Beck is a great guy" vs. "Glenn Beck is a jerk". The former turns up 7 hits; the latter turns up 68,700 hits.

It's not strictly scientific, but it does give you at least a general idea of how people feel. (By the way, using the Google test, I've never seen a more lopsided result than the example I just thought of five minutes ago and used above. Wow. That guy needs to get hit by something. Usually I just use it for checking spelling errors.

So using this same test, I tried the following:
"willow geek cool buffy" (39,200 hits)
vs
"willow nerd cool buffy" (1,530,000 hits)


And there you go.

[figmentj.livejournal.com]

I submit that Willow started out as a nerd and evolved into a geek. She was originally incredibly socially awkward, and only good at schoolwork and books, and evolved into a confident, interesting hacker witchy chick who was a total geek about magic and computers and college.