# Trekkie vs. Trekker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008 "2013-07-20T04:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/21 "2013-07-20T14:07:02Z")
We were Trekkies long before some aspie newcomer decided that was insufficiently dignified. Trekkers has always sounded like some overpriced faux-hiking/work shoe sold at Target to compete with the real overpriced faux-hiking/work shoe Sketchers. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/22 "2013-07-20T14:09:18Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Would Starfleet approve of the Trekkie / Trekker Rhetoric? No, as mentioned upthread, Gene Roddenberry preferred “Trekkie” and thought “Trekker” was stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/23 "2013-07-20T14:37:48Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > No, as mentioned upthread, Gene Roddenberry preferred “Trekkie” and thought “Trekker” was stupid. I was going more for the “Spirit” and not the “Letter” here. ““Word of God”” notwithstanding, I can’t see Pike, Kirk, Picard, and the other Captains I’ve yet to meet, and those I will never “meet” deciding to even recognize the debate. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/24 "2013-07-20T14:40:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Trekkers are fans of the shows and movies because of the great overall story and social commentary embodied in the them of optimism and a better future. Trekkies need a life. On second thought, THIS. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/25 "2013-07-20T15:28:46Z")
Trekkies are people who love Star Trek unabashedly. Trekkers are people who like Star Trek but are so afraid that society will judge them for it that they need to come up with a “dignified” self-descriptor, not realizing that it makes them sound like science fiction hipsters (and still sounds pretty undignified when you get right down to it). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/26 "2013-07-20T15:59:20Z")
Calling yourself a “trekker” is like calling yourself a “bright”. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/27 "2013-07-20T16:27:50Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Trekker sounds stupid and is not a real word > > > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > > Seconded. Word for word. And among the fans I know, even former “Trekkers” consider the term ridiculous. trekker noun ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from South African Dutch trek (noun), trekken (verb) ‘pull, travel.’ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/28 "2013-07-20T17:40:32Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Trekkie_ is a diminutive, it reduces fan activities into something negative and childish. Fans of _Star Trek_ do not want to be viewed so dismissively, and therefore prefer a word that represents their participation in fan activities, and of their imagining travelling along with their heroes through space. _Trekker_ represents that. So, like “foodie” vs “fooder”? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/29 "2013-07-20T17:48:11Z")
I can’t tell how much of this thread is tongue-in-cheek and how much of it is y’all really adhering to your POVs, but it’s hilarious either way. I enjoy the Star Trek universe just fine, like some of the TV shows, the movies, etc. Never dressed up as anyone from Star Trek and don’t plan to. Don’t know or care if I’m a trekkie or trekker and don’t really ever want to know. I’m a fan of Star Trek, and that’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/30 "2013-07-20T20:31:21Z")
Trekkie: A fan of Star Trek. Trekker: An insecure fan of Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/31 "2013-07-20T20:33:57Z")
I’m a Trekkie. Someone who insists on the term “Trekker” is has self-esteem problems. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/32 "2013-07-20T20:40:18Z")
Trekkers live in their own homes. Trekkies live in their mom’s basement\*. TriPolar - Trekker since 1966 \*Unless they are Rhode Island Trekkies, in which case they live in their mom’s down cellar. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/33 "2013-07-20T22:52:05Z")
{SINGS}“I’m a Trekker, he’s a Trekker, she’s a Trekker, we’re a Trekker, wouldn’t you like to be a Trekker, too?”.{/SINGS} No. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/34 "2013-07-21T00:42:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So, like “foodie” vs “fooder”? Foodie vs Gourmand. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/35 "2013-07-21T00:45:59Z")
I once saw a placard for a meeting of Trekkers, dashed in all excited… It turned out they were hikers. True story. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/36 "2013-07-21T01:52:05Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m a Trekkie. Someone who insists on the term “Trekker” is has self-esteem problems. This. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/37 "2013-07-21T04:36:22Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Trekkies are people who love Star Trek unabashedly. > > Trekkers are people who like Star Trek but are so afraid that society will judge them for it that they need to come up with a “dignified” self-descriptor, not realizing that it makes them sound like science fiction hipsters (and still sounds pretty undignified when you get right down to it). This. Trekkie was in use first. It was used for both the rabid fan and the casual fan. But that was back in the days when being a SciFi geek was uncool. Yes, my dear twenty-somethings, there was a time when ‘being into computers’ was a social kiss of death and not a pathway to billionairesville. It was also the time we called it ‘SciFi’ and not speculative futurism or science fantasy or the turdtastic SyFy. So, the socially insecure casual fans, not wanting to be associated with the nerds (NERRRRDSSS!!!), geeks, and freaks, decided to call themselves Trekkers. See?! A Trekkie is crazy and to be made a social pariah for their fandom!! But I’m cool and can take or leave Star Trek… I just watch it for the relevant social commentary on modern society. Oops, I just scraped my nose on the underbelly of that overpassing jet. And so, Trekkers are the ones holding the huge sign that reads: I NEED THE APPROVAL OF OTHERS SO BADLY THAT I SELF-IDENTIFY AS A TREKKER AND NOT TREKKIE! Which is fine. A true Trekkie knows that Star Trek is about not conforming to wrongful social norms, that’s what Star Trek taught us, and those who don’t get that lesson would do well not to call themselves a Trekkie. And Trekkies are reveling in that fact that ‘Trekkie’ is no longer seen as odd or weird to mainstream culture. And that their computers are taking over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/38 "2013-07-21T04:58:58Z")
I generally applaud this any, but I this this was a non sequitur … > [@](#): > > . It was also the time we called it ‘SciFi’ and not speculative futurism or science fantasy or the turdtastic SyFy. “SyFy” has nothing to with trying to change the image of scifi or replacing it with a new term. “SciFi” is a generic term for the genre they focus on. They needed a brand name that they could build exclusive rights in. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/39 "2013-07-21T05:02:43Z")
My interpretation is that a Trekkie is someone who is a fan of Star Trek. A Trekker is a Trekkie who is taking themselves too seriously. But then, social nomenclature is a fickle and often-varying thing, with members of the same demographic having varying opinions of any particular word (such as the whole “N-Word Privileges” thing.) I’ve seen similar discussions of nerd vs. geek (I see myself as a geek, but won’t deny if someone calls me a nerd, I know other folks who get up in arms over it one way or the other) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008/40 "2013-07-21T09:03:14Z")
> [@](#): > > But that was back in the days when being a SciFi geek was uncool. Yes, my dear twenty-somethings, there was a time when ‘being into computers’ was a social kiss of death and not a pathway to billionairesville. It was also the time we called it ‘SciFi’ and not speculative futurism or science fantasy or the turdtastic SyFy. I was told, back in the 1960s or 70s, that people who were not in the field or who only read it casually called it scifi. Scifi, to people who really knew the field, described such classical works as _Revenge of the Giant Ant-Men_, whereas science fiction was for works like _Childhood’s End_. IOW, scifi was used as a sneering term for potboilers by some people, who would use SF or science fiction or spec fic for more serious works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkie-vs-trekker/664008.md?page=3)