# Nerd / Geek - which is worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768 "2004-01-16T15:08:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/1 "2004-01-16T15:08:25Z")
Sometimes a person is called a nerd and takes offense. It seems less so when someone is branded a Geek. Are Nerds worse than Geeks? ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/2 "2004-01-16T15:25:24Z")
IMHO, (also the forum this should be in, perhaps) yes. See [here](http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=75004&lastnode_id=124), or [here.](http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/3 "2004-01-16T15:28:55Z")
Challenge 1 - How to remove the anomalous twist from a telephone cord without working it to the end of the wire. Mystery 1 - How the bloody hell does it get there in the first place!? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/4 "2004-01-16T15:31:28Z")
FUCK! (sorry) That was supposed to be an OP, not a reply in someone else’s OP! (double FUCK. I sent the above message to the wrong thread) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/5 "2004-01-16T15:32:34Z")
Nerds and Geeks are both harmless on their own, but their powers combine to form Gnerks, who are a danger to others and the world. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/6 "2004-01-16T15:50:00Z")
What I meant to say in this thread was… I think it was milhouse who said - “A Geek is just a nerd without cleverness” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/7 "2004-01-16T15:51:00Z")
My son is a nerd or geek. I always tell him that it is no insult to be called a member of any group that is never preceded by **gang of**. Thus being called a nerd or gay or a bookworm is better than being called a thug or bully or drug dealer. **Lobsang** get back to the other thread. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/8 "2004-01-16T16:34:16Z")
They’re different things. Geeks are circus performers who bite the heads off animals, or eat them whole, or display perverse appetites. How that came to be misunderstood as “nerd” is anybody’s guess. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/9 "2004-01-16T16:35:04Z")
To me, “Nerd” is an insult while “Geek” is not. A nerd is a pimply-faced, high-water-wearing, top-collar-button, no-chinned weanie who’s only life is computers. A geek is a person of high-technical skill. I’m both but only want to be called the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/10 "2004-01-16T16:49:59Z")
I read on /. today (heheh) that it goes: Dweeb = no skills, no social life Nerd = skills, no social life Geek = skills, social life ---
**Author:** ![facil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@facil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/facil)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/11 "2004-01-16T16:56:53Z")
those terms are very simple to understand. let me show you. in one hand you have a scoop of cat poop. the other hand is holding a scoop of dog poop. you are given a choice…eat one. see? simple. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/12 "2004-01-16T17:05:15Z")
Nerd is definately worse. _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/13 "2004-01-16T17:10:32Z")
> [@Belrix](#): > > To me, “Nerd” is an insult while “Geek” is not. So [Slashdot](http://slashdot.org/), subtitled “News for Nerds”, has been blatantly insulting themselves and their readers for years. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/14 "2004-01-16T17:11:23Z")
did “nerd” actually exist as a word before the TV show HAPPY DAYS? I never heard it until it was used on that show- I’ve certainly never seen it in a book, movie or TV show that was actually made in the 1950s. Historically, then, AFAIK, “geek” is worse as it been used for most of the 1900s to mean a mentally-challenged or addicted person who does grotesque things for entertainment to support oneself out of desperation. “Nerd” just meant “uncool person” & was a 1970s TV-created word. Since then however, they are pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/15 "2004-01-16T18:42:42Z")
> [@micco](#): > > So [Slashdot](http://slashdot.org/), subtitled “News for Nerds”, has been blatantly insulting themselves and their readers for years. Go figure. I figure this is for several reasons 1. it’s nicely alliterative (prime reason, IMO) 2. Nerd is used by Geeks the way that “Queer” is used by Gays - pejoritive by outsiders, OK used by ourselves. -B ---
**Author:** ![Jon\_the\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jon\_the\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jon_the_Geek)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/16 "2004-01-16T19:56:22Z")
I use “geek” to essentially mean “out of the closet nerd”. In other words, a geek knows he’s a geek, a nerd thinks he isn’t. I also agree with the “nerd is equivalent to queer” statement… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/17 "2004-01-16T20:21:30Z")
My take on it is the same as **Napier** ’s. A geek is a grotesque carnival performer, and “geek” is therefore a unilateral insult. A nerd, however, is an introverted person of high technical skills (there are other personality aspects as well, but they’re harder to elucidate). Despite the implication of hampered social skills, most nerds in my experience recognize and are proud of their nerdiness. Of course, only a nerd would insist on the distinction between “geek” and “nerd” :D. ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/18 "2004-01-16T23:11:26Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > did “nerd” actually exist as a word before the TV show HAPPY DAYS? I never heard it until it was used on that show- I’ve certainly never seen it in a book, movie or TV show that was actually made in the 1950s. > > Historically, then, AFAIK, “geek” is worse as it been used for most of the 1900s to mean a mentally-challenged or addicted person who does grotesque things for entertainment to support oneself out of desperation. “Nerd” just meant “uncool person” & was a 1970s TV-created word. > > Since then however, they are pretty much the same. I’m a teen of the Happy Days period and I never heard the word until the TV show.In our parlance you may have been a square,or mope, mook,hick-never a nerd. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/19 "2004-01-16T23:42:02Z")
Nerd is definately worse. A geek is someone who has fun being smart, but it doesn’t take over their life. A nerd is someone who ALWAYS talks about math/science/whatever. They don’t need a life, they are so immersed in their chosen subject. I heard this somewhere, but I don’t remember where. “The difference between a geek and a nerd is that, if both are invited to a party, the nerd will stay home and study. The geek will go to the party, but no one will really talk to him, and maybe he gets a wedgie.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768/20 "2004-01-16T23:58:33Z")
I, personally, call myself a “Nerd.” And I’m pretty proud of it. In any case, according to the New Hacker’s Dictionary (v4.4.7), a [Nerd](http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/N/nerd.html) is defined as… > [@](#): > > 1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals. > > 2. [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what’s really important and interesting and doesn’t care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games. Compare geek. And a [Geek](http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/G/geek.html) is defined as: > [@](#): > > A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves — and some who are in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard ‘hacker’ as a label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed. > > One description accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates “gamers, ravers, science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted to.” Clear as mud? I thought so. Although, one might say that Nerds are more like scholars or scientists, and Geeks are more like artists. (_“Might”_ being the operative word.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerd-geek-which-is-worse/224768.md?page=2)