# Nerds then and now

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 18, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052 "2004-06-18T15:55:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052/1 "2004-06-18T15:55:24Z")

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Have you ever noticed that nerds today are quite different from the nerds of yesteryear?

Then: Dress shirts with pocket protectors.

Now: T-shirts purchased at a science fiction convention.

Then: Crew cut.

Now: Pony tail.

Then: Seriously underweight.

Now: Seriously overweight.

At least I looked like today’s nerd long before it was fashionable!

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**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052/2 "2004-06-18T16:02:58Z")

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A friend of mine once said, “It may be fashionable to act like a nerd. It may be fashionable to dress like a nerd. It will never be fashionable to be a nerd.”

I’d like to hear theories about why yesteryear’s nerds were skinny and today’s are overweight. It’s not like the nerds of previous generations were more athletically inclined.

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**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052/3 "2004-06-18T16:14:43Z")

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I don’t think much has really changed. There’s just a lot of different kinds of nerds.

There’s still the science-geek nerd (pocket protector and tape on the glasses), the comic-book nerd (ponytail and sci-fi-con shirt), and so on. There’s also a bit of nerd overlap, and some variations within the taxonomic groups. For instance, the alpha nerd in a group of Japanese-anime-fan nerds will have slightly different characteristics than the rest of his/her herd, probably including a t-shirt with kanji he/she can’t read on it.

You may have hit upon a fundamental shift in the nerd demographic, though.

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-then-and-now/251052/4 "2004-06-18T16:15:52Z")

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> [@lainaf](#):
>
> I’d like to hear theories about why yesteryear’s nerds were skinny and today’s are overweight. It’s not like the nerds of previous generations were more athletically inclined.

Computers?