Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] etymology of 'geek', 'nerd', etc.

[phill <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

  I recall seeing somewhere recently a comparative definition of nerd and
geek.  Said that a nerd was a computer-centric, slightly odd, usually unsocial
person(or something similar), and a geek was the same thing, but liked it.

--phill

Mike Miller wrote:

> On Wed, 21 Feb 2001, rwd7ec wrote:
>
> > NO, No, no! I had a discussion about this with a co-worker the
> > otherday. We are not nerds. GEEKS is more like it...computer geeks to
> > be exact. We came up with the conclusion that Nerds are Geeks without
> > the intellectual bonus (For all you math geeks, NERD= GEEK - INT ie
> > other engineering majors) We also came to the conclusion that Dorks
> > are just more socially inept nerds (again, DORK= pr0n(Nerd - BOOTY) ).
>
> I was just remembering another thing from my early years in engineering
> school (at WPI in Worcester, MA).  Of course there were many 'geeks'
> around, but we didn't call them that.  We called them "gweeps."  Now this
> is going back 25 years, but apparently the term is still in use:
>
> http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/gweep.html
>
> I take exception to some of what is said in the jargon file.  I agree with
> the idea that the term 'gweep' had to do with the sound of the terminal --
> it's the sound of the beep that is produced when Ctrl-G is entered: thus
> the 'g' in 'gweep.' At least that's what I believed at the time.  When I
> was at WPI in 1976 the term was very well established and widely used.
> It was a *noun* -- a 'gweep' was a person who used the computer too much.
> It was a pejorative term, but used mostly with a sense of humor.  The verb
> had to have come later.  So I think the jargon file should switch
> definitions '1' and '2'.  It is possible that I am wrong and that the term
> had undergone some evolution already by 1976, but I doubt it.
>
> The word 'geek' is in the dictionary.  It's a carnival performer who bites
> the heads off of chickens for money.  This generalized to Definition 2:
> "any strange or eccentric person."  How 'geek' came to refer specifically
> to computer enthusiasts is a little mysterious (I know we're strange and
> eccentric), but I wonder if there is any connection with the term 'gweep.'
> 'Geek' and 'gweep' were both definitely pejorative, so maybe there is a
> connection.  It is just possible that the historical reason why we use
> 'geek' for computer mavens is that Ctrl-G causes a beep on a computer.
>
> 'Nerd' is also in the dictionary.  According to my dictionary, the term
> 'nerd' was first used in the early 1960s.  Definition 2 is "a person
> dedicated to a nonsocial pursuit: a computer nerd."  It seems like 'nerd'
> has fallen out of fashion somewhat and 'geek' is taking its place.
>
> Mike
>
> --
> Michael B. Miller
> University of Missouri--Columbia
> http://taxa.psyc.missouri.edu/~mbmiller/
>
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