Dork vs Geek

In a recent conversation with someone we were discussing the differences of a dork and a geek. I had said that a dork would probably be someone would possessed a good amount of intelligence, but was unattractive. I also said that a geek possessed the same amount of intelligence, but would be at least somewhat attractive. Can this be settled?

Well, I don’t have a slang dictionary in front of me, but IIRC dork is a reference to the ol’ penis while geek is used to descibe the vircus folk who bite the heads off chickens.

Anyhoo, as far as my own daily use of the words; I use dork to describe people who are comfortable with being dorks and know what they are (possibly even proud)-- the way I am with Star Wars and Pez. :slight_smile:

Geeks probably aren’t as self-aware or comfortable with themselves. I don’t know though, 'cause I don’t usually use the word geek unless it pertains to certain circus folk.

According to the OED:

dork = The penis (perhaps a conflation of “dick” and “dirk”); a foolish or stupid person; also as a general term of contempt. It seems to date only from the 1960s.

geek = a carnival ‘wild man’ whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake (1954); a dumb sideshow stooge whose daily routine consists of being exhibited in a pit which he has to dig for himself (1961).

Geek seems to be a variant of “geck”, meaning “a fool, simpleton; one who is befooled or derided, a dupe”. The earliest reference is from 1515, and there’s two from Shakespeare:

Twelfth Night

Cymbeline

I went ahead and did the research myself a little later. Turns out Dork would be slang for “nerd”:

Main Entry: dork
Pronunciation: 'dork
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps alteration of dick
Date: 1967

slang : NERD

So I looked up Nerd and got this:

Main Entry: nerd
Pronunciation: 'n&rd
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from nerd, a creature in the children’s book If I Ran the Zoo (1950) by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
Date: 1951
: an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits <computer nerds>

  • nerd·ish /'n&r-dish/ adjective
  • nerdy /-dE/ adjective

Hmm… fits the theory so far. I looked up “geek” afterwards:

Main Entry: geek
Pronunciation: 'gEk
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German
Date: 1914
1 : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake
2 : a person often of an intellectual bent who is disapproved of

  • geeky /'gE-kE/ adjective

The 1st definition fits your description, but the 2nd definition is closer to my theory. I’m getting closer to my answer now. :slight_smile:

Ah, the evolution of language. Here’s how the Kunilou kids (all of them teenagers) separate it out.

Neither dorks nor geeks have any social skills. However, dorks are all-around losers, while geeks have some sort of skill (computers, music, etc.) in which they have actual talent.

Geeks tend to realize they don’t have good people skills. This bothers some of them, while others develop a sense of superiority because they see other kids as wasting time partying while they’re mastering the works of Pascal. Dorks, on the other hand, just seem clueless.

A nerd is a subset of geek. Nerds often have some degree of social skills (you realize we’re dealing with the fine points of an adolescent caste system here) but it’s overwhelmed by their obsession with a particular area.

In practice, however, the terms get pretty jumbled up. A sci-fi devotee, who in my understanding should probably be called a nerd, is universally known as a geek.

It reminds me of George Carlin’s line about the difference between fags and fairies when he was growing up (for the record, a fag was a guy who wouldn’t go with you to beat up fairies.)