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San Francisco, 7:55 AM
Sat Nov 28
16 posts in the last 24 hours
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03/29/09
I'm glad so much research was done into this. And I used to lament why "dork" didn't make it bigger. Or "goof".
Anyway, above all these, I prefer the Japanese term "otaku".
03/29/09
GEEK
Etymological Theory 1: Sometime in the early 19th century, the Scottish word geck, meaning "fool," changed to geek and began being used to describe a certain kind of carnival performer. Geeks specialized in eating live animals, including biting the heads off live chickens.
Theory 2: Real etymology geeks trace the word geck all the way back to Shakespeare-see, for instance, "the most notorious geck" in Act V of Twelfth Night-and claim that we have the first great literature geek to blame for the word.
NERD
Theory 1: The first known appearance of the word is in Dr. Seuss's 1950 If I Ran the Zoo, in which a character wants to collect "A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!" The theory goes that kids liked the ring of the word so much, they started using it derogatorily.
Theory 2: Some at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute claim that they coined the word knurd in the '50s to describe kids who studied all the time (knurd being drunk spelled backward).
neither seems desirable, but I think OW-Holmes is on to something.... the denotations of the words have changed among the people to whom they're most often applied. and I'll take that!
03/30/09
03/29/09
[www.theonion.com]
03/29/09
actually, that's just kinda lazy.
nerds: they can read.
so can geeks.
and dorks.
this was like the idiot's guide to i09. ironic.
03/29/09
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03/29/09
I couldn't get the comments to load that day, so I didn't get a chance to add my Very Important Opinion: Dude, It's just a word-- cry me a river, build a bridge, and get the fuck over it!
03/29/09
5555555555
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ROOOLZ!
03/29/09
03/29/09
You get a gold star for effort, (if you didn't already have one.)
03/29/09
Just a bookworm, really.
03/29/09
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03/30/09
03/27/09
03/27/09
...er, please tell me it's not being changed to nyrd.
03/27/09
03/27/09
We are doing good, but arnt there yet ;)
03/27/09
03/27/09
Just put the Earth in a nice spend thrift trust so I wont go and squander it too soon. Maybe a Crummy Withdrawal right so we can get some gift tax benefits.
(quietly walks out after making a law joke)
03/27/09
[shakes fist] INHERRRIITT!!!
03/27/09
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03/27/09
Nerds will just run that shit.
03/27/09
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03/27/09
Ever been given an atomic-space wedgie? Brutal.
03/27/09
"Nerd" is still valid, and there really isn't any other term that could take its place.
"Geek", however, has taken a beating.
03/27/09
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03/27/09
i know of a couple of friends who are hardcore nerds and i am not one of them. i always considered myself a good old fashioned, biting heads off of things geek.
on the revenge of the nerds scale i would be a Booger for sure.
03/27/09
It's a solution we can all live with.
03/27/09
03/27/09
Heretic! Answer 5 is the only true path to enlightenment!
03/27/09
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03/27/09
Vote with your heart people. Vote 5!
03/27/09
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03/27/09
I personally am organizing the Canadian factions of 4 and 5. Everyone who supports 4 can meet at the Tim Horton's up the street. Everyone who supports 5 can meet at.... the other Tim's slightly further up the street.
03/27/09
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03/27/09
*picks up chainsaw mounted on a flaming pitchfork*
03/27/09
Answer 5: it's the only prime solution for these troubled times.
Also, Answer 4 is for Cancer. You don't like Cancer, do you?
03/27/09
And besides, everyone who votes for Six gets indescribable pleasures from dubious heavenly beings. But you wouldn't know that unless you voted for Six. Which you didn't.
03/27/09
And in doing so we leave the realm of nerd and geek and descend into the treacherous world of the lecherous sci-fi fans. The things we do with our imagination.
03/27/09
What number is CJ? A TEN OF COURSE HURR HURR
03/27/09
Can we go even further? Maybe we can make tangents as far as the eye can see or tangential loops that encompass all known reason or thought.
As 4 says "Yes we can".
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03/27/09
I dont know if you can be addicted to a fruit, but I love that fruit.
03/27/09
03/29/09
I've come back to see that a small seed has grown into a great and silly tree!
propah
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