# Am I a nerd? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733 "2005-09-08T22:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/21 "2005-09-09T22:41:25Z")
Nerd, no. Geek, yes. And that’s a _good_ thing. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/22 "2005-09-10T01:56:39Z")
Now if you own one of [these](http://www.emeralddawn.com/items/collect.htm) you’re a total nerd and I envy you. ---
**Author:** ![longat24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f17d59/32.png) [@longat24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longat24)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/23 "2005-09-10T02:12:34Z")
Okay a little late to the thread but the [following](http://www.brunching.com/geekhierarchy.html) should hopefully define where you stand. I myself, work in the computer industry as a Unix System Admin, know far too much about RAID and until I read the link, had not heard of “furries” and now am a little sadder that I have. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/24 "2005-09-10T02:18:58Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Are you familiar with the Rainier Wolfcastle film Undercover Nerd? Or his movie, Help! My Son is a Nerd, in which he is horrified to learn his son is a nerd? ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/25 "2005-09-10T02:38:07Z")
I went to college at a school that was schizophrenic. Half the students were studying some kind of engineering. The other half were, mostly, liberal arts students. I had many friends on the engineering side of campus where I learned what was the ultimate definition of the word “nerd.” A nerd was somebody who knew all 25 ways to spell the word “nerd.” nerd nerde knird knerde knirde nurd nurde knurd knurde nerdd nirdd nurdd knerdd knirdd knurdd nerdde nurdde knurdde nirde nirdde knirdde well, you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/26 "2005-09-10T09:12:08Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You’re a geek, although methinks the rap music should be an against. What kind of geek likes rap music? [This kind](http://www.mcchris.com/). And, of course, the fact that I got my picture taken with MC Chris confirms my own geekiness (well, that, the D&D playing, the ability to identify any ST:TNG episode in ten seconds or less, and most of my other hobbies). A friend of mine, while more hippie and less geeky, has an even geekier MC Chris story. Chris, winded after a song, borrowed my friend’s asthma inhaler and took a few drags before moving on to the next song. After the show he signed the inhaler. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/27 "2005-09-10T13:19:47Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > I feel like I’m in the nerd closet 😃 I’ve been in the nerd-closet for a long time. Recently, though, I’ve returned to college, and when we were told to introduce ourselves using a show-and-tell approach (I’m in elementary education), I decided to break out of the closet. So I brought, among other items, a set of polyhedral dice. “And last,” I said, “I’m really, really nerdy. These are a set of dice used for playing Dungeons and Dragons”– and a **gasp** went up around the room. It was impressive. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/28 "2005-09-10T13:36:05Z")
Nird. **Nerd vs. geek** Nerds play classical piano. Geeks play art-noise synthesizer. Nerds talk obsessively. Geeks achieve obsessively. Nerds wear “nice” clothes with wrinkles and stains. Geeks wear scruffy clothes that don’t show them. The bigger the glasses, the bigger the nerd. The smaller the glasses, the bigger the geek. A geek can imitate a nerd. A nerd can’t imitate a geek. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/29 "2005-09-10T18:36:55Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > Don’t tell me you’ve never seen ‘Office Space’! Jesus! That nerdy guy at the start, rapping in his car, you’re right! When me and my S.O. watched this, she nearly wet herself laughing, saying “hey! He’s just like you!” Thats what probably started this whole identity crisis. looks like I definatly can be considered a nerd, or a geek. I look at both terms as being basically the same. I do remember some Geek/Nerd defining arguments, though, which I always thought were pretty funny: Nerds would like to meet William Shatner, and chat about his career. Geeks would like to meet Captain Kirk, and chat about the shield system on the enterprise. Nerds wonder what sex in zero gravity would be like. Geeks wonder what sex would be like. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/30 "2005-09-10T18:38:17Z")
BTW, did I mention I’m a published playwright of horror theatre? Got to count for something! ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/31 "2005-09-10T19:26:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Quoth from the Wikipedia article provided by **Dangerous Nan McGrew** > > Although nerds and geeks have similarities, they often dislike each other. Why am I picturing something from “West Side Story”? :: snap snap snap :: Listen man, you got a pocket protector, and like sci-fi. . . . . . you gotta _choooooooose._ Tripler I am both nerdy and geeky. But I have guns, which makes me sort of a ‘redneck geek-nerd’. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/32 "2005-09-11T00:06:05Z")
You have some nerdish qualities but I wouldn’t call you a nerd, perse. And hell, if You can bench 200 lbs I bet you’re a _hot_ nerd- the best kind! I, on the other hand, am a proud, female(!) nerd. I was one of the people standing outside Borders at midnight dressed up like someone from the Harry Potter books, have watched every Star Wars movie in a day, go to bed at 10 PM on a Saturday night while reading, and I study latin _in my spare time_. But [minus the Harry Potter shirts and a shirt that says “Speling is my fortay”] I don’t look nerdy, so I guess it balances it out. ---
**Author:** ![Penchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Penchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penchan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/33 "2005-09-11T03:10:24Z")
What’s wrong with being geeky? I find geeks to be really sexy. My SO is an uber geek, but he’s a geek that gets a good deal of hot, sweaty lovin so no complaints from his end or mine! If you have a girlfriend, then quit worrying about what she thinks you are, just be happy that you have someone who likes you for you. And if you’re feeling like it, use it to your advantage: You: honey…I bought a new comic book today…I’m pretty happy. How about a backrub for you tonight then let’s hit the sack a little early? 😉 Your SO: why dearest, you’ve been getting so many comics lately! _hops into bed_ Haha I’m too geeky for my own good… ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733/34 "2005-09-11T05:47:34Z")
I have to agree with most others, you are a geek. It’s no big deal. I’m a geek (a girl geek and proud of it, too). My boyfriend is a geek. Most of the people I know are geeks… A couple of points about geek love: There is no love like geek love. In the land of the geeks, the man with the girlfriend is king (I told that to my boyfriend after we started dating. He just smiled and laughed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-nerd/320733.md?page=1)