Is there any difference between geeks and nerds and why does the stereotypical nerd have a nasal accent?

mementoflash

nerd also nurd ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nûrd) n. Slang A foolish, inept, or unattractive person. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. Word History: The word nerd, undefined but illustrated, first appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo: “And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!” (The nerd is a small humanoid creature looking comically angry, like a thin, cross Chester A. Arthur.) Nerd next appears, with a gloss, in the February 10, 1957, issue of the Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday Mail in a regular column entitled “ABC for SQUARES”: “Nerda square, any explanation needed?” Many of the terms defined in this “ABC” are unmistakable Americanisms, such as hep, ick, and jazzy, as is the gloss “square,” the current meaning of nerd. The third appearance of nerd in print is back in the United States in 1970 in Current Slang: “Nurd [sic], someone with objectionable habits or traits.... An uninteresting person, a ‘dud.’” Authorities disagree on whether the two nerdsDr. Seuss's small creature and the teenage slang term in the Glasgow Sunday Mailare the same word. Some experts claim there is no semantic connection and the identity of the words is fortuitous. Others maintain that Dr. Seuss is the true originator of nerd and that the word nerd (“comically unpleasant creature”) was picked up by the five- and six-year-olds of 1950 and passed on to their older siblings, who by 1957, as teenagers, had restricted and specified the meaning to the most comically obnoxious creature of their own class, a “square.” http://dictionary.reference.com/ Mar 04 06, 5:11 AM

mementoflash

geek ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gk) n. Slang A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken. Our Living Language Our word geek is now chiefly associated with student and computer slang; one probably thinks first of a computer geek. In origin, however, it is one of the words American English borrowed from the vocabulary of the circus, which was a much more significant source of entertainment in the United States in the 19th and early 20th century than it is now. Large numbers of traveling circuses left a cultural legacy in various and sometimes unexpected ways. For example, Superman and other comic book superheroes owe much of their look to circus acrobats, who were similarly costumed in capes and tights. The circus sideshow is the source of the word geek, “a performer who engaged in bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.” http://dictionary.reference.com/ Mar 04 06, 5:15 AM

Flynn_17

I'd like to point out that I have a nasal accent, but I hope I'm not a nerd. With me, it was because of inept rhinological surgeons reforming my nose and destroying my sinuses at the same time. Mar 04 06, 7:06 AM

SOTHC

I thought people with nasal accents were Flemish and Geeks were people from Greece who could not pronounce their Rs Mar 04 06, 9:50 AM

Baloo55th

You mean those ones that can't tell their R's from their Ellenike? Mar 04 06, 12:59 PM

iamtheotaku

A geek is someone who's just unpopular. Geeks aren't ALWAYS smart. They might be annoying. Nerds may be obsessed with electronics and are very intelligent. They both have some similarities, but there are some minor differences. Mar 04 06, 1:11 PM

Dav546

Geeks are Dumb nerds are smart. Mar 04 06, 5:19 PM

masonbarge

They have nasal accents because they have allergies. Unattractive minor health problems are nerdy. Pimples. Eyeglasses. Bad breath and bad teeth. Also they are nervous and don't breathe deeply when they talk. Geek has come to be used as a self-description by highly intelligent scientists, especially in the computer field. They tend to be non-players, i.e. they are not popular and don't spend a lot of time chasing girls/boys, but in their case it may be simply because they are so deeply involved in computers/math/whatever that they don't want to take the time, trouble, and expense to buy fashionable clothes, get their teeth whitened, hang out with pretty people, go to clubs, work out, etc. Mar 04 06, 5:28 PM

gmackematix

I have to say there isn't much uniformity of use that would differentiate the two. I have seen the likes of Bill Gates, Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino and so on described variously as geeks or nerds. As for the nasal accent, I imagine that people who have difficulty connecting emotionally with other people might be expected to have flat nasal accents. I hope all the anoraks, spods, brainiacs, poindexters and dweebs out there aren't feeling left out. Mar 04 06, 6:07 PM

lanfranco

Personally, gmack, I think we're all a little nerdy or geeky on this site. In one way or another. And difficulty connecting emotionally doesn't necessarily imply a flat, nasal accent -- far from it. I've known some autistics and some Asperger's patients who speak with such accents, but I've also known some terminally-disconnected nerds who don't. In fact, in my experience, some Sci Fi geeks could have made an excellent living in 19th-century melodrama. Mar 04 06, 7:46 PM

mementoflash

I agree lanfranco, this is a total nerd/geek site. Intelligent people who choose to spend great amounts of their free time staring at a PC, typing, and googling. The Fonz is not amongst us. Mar 04 06, 9:42 PM

aussiebaby16

I was told by my teacher that a nerd is socially inept and they hide behind books computers ect to counter act their ineptness Mar 04 06, 10:20 PM

Arpeggionist

I would however do away with most of the steriotypes. I was a geek. I did not wear glasses until I was 15, I do not, nor did I ever, speak with a nasal accent, unless I was playing a heatric number or a prank phone call, or imitating my [musical] analysis professor. I also have had few visible pimples (fewer since my beard came in). Mar 05 06, 4:37 AM

milky54

well according to me the smarter ones are the geeks and the nerds are the annoying ones who play dungeon and dragons and avoid human contact...no offense if you play dungeon and dragons of course. its if thats ALL you do then you should be concerned... Mar 05 06, 10:59 AM

gmackematix

While stereotypes often have a hint of truth about them you wouldn't expect everyone who fits the label to exactly fit the mental picture that goes with the label. Incidentally, I must say this question came to me after seeing the Simpsons episode in which Homer returns to college and gets the college nerds expelled. As those nerds summed up the stereotype quite well, I'll mention that they wore glasses, had nasal accents, laughed at others' lack of technical knowledge, got nosebleeds, wore retainers, were easily conned out of money, were knowledgeable about computers, science, sci-fi and comic books and could recite Monty Python sketches verbatim. I can think of at least two people I know who fit at least six parts of that description. Mar 05 06, 9:04 PM