What Does "Being A Nerd" Mean To You?

I believe being a nerd is liking stuff and not being afraid to show it. I post pics of my Doctor Who DVDs on Facebook, as well as games, books and other crazy stuff, so I'd consider myself a nerd.

 

I think of like Pointdexter on the movie Revenge of the Nerds. Goofy looking, no muscles, real smart, a pocket protecter in his shirt pocket full of pens. Oh coke bottle bottom glasses with horned rimmed glasses too. I guess the classical nerd from the early mid 1980's..... June

 

Going to an anime expo is pretty nerdy in the first place (I can't wait to go to my first in August!!! Still thinking of cosplay ideas because Berserker from Fate Zero's armor is complicated as hell.), but being nerdy is a good thing. I tend to see nerdyness as openly enjoying things that segregate from the mainstream but are not considered to be hipster or cool (i.e. comic books).

 

I tend to agree with June. Nerds are typically glasses bearing, neat little brainiacs. They have a vast knowledge, usually of many subjects. Geeks, on the other hand, are usually into one or two things and pretty passionately. They're your gamers, Dr. Who fans, etc. Nerds can still like those things, but they tend to lean more toward academic lives.

 

Agreed. I think it's not just 1 or two of those things but the combination of all. I was called a nerd because I used to like reading. That single doesn't make me a nerd. I'm more of a dork. :dry:

 

Nerds... when your IQ > your total body weight. Just about all of my hard science and math courses in college had a handful of Engineering majors. They made robots look emotional.

Geeks are your gamers, your fans, and your collectors, etc although there's a lot of crossover between the two, and a lot of people don't fit neatly into either category. I call myself a 'word nerd', but I'm really more of a geek.

 

I would fall under both categories, and I am appalled that you think that I have less emotion than Data or R2D2! Us nerd-geeks might look like robots in class, but turn on Doctor Who and we will start fan-girling like its the season finale!

 

I don't even know anymore, I used to think of myself as nerdy in high school but as fads shifted the meaning has kind of blurred for me. Traditionally I've always thought being nerdy was about having strong interests in topics/things that aren't really things you'd find people interested in, being very studious and knowledgable and socially awkward or communication isn't a forte.

Nowadays I find myself unsure of what I am, as I'm not really that into 'nerdy' things that today's people who identify as nerdy are into. I guess I'm just more of a do what I like and love it.

Edit: Reading over some responses I guess I might consider being geeky about things I really like. Like spouting random facts or the mechanics of certain games.

 

Yeah thats exactly my point

 

I think it pretty much depends on who you ask, and that if someone calls themselves a nerd, it probably doesn't mean the same thing to them as what you're picturing in your head does to you.

 

I tend to think geek and nerd are the same thing, so when I hear or see the word "nerd" I think of someone who's really quiet but knows a lot, and usually surprises people when they voice out that knowledge. Nowadays nerds/geeks don't look like the stereotypical ones (to me at least), so it's pretty hard to pinpoint who is and who isn't.

 

The term has changed a lot in the past decade or so. "Nerd" was a derogatory term for somebody rather specific. A nerd was good at school subjects - especially math and sciences. He was awkward at social interactions, and often uncoordinated, and usually dressed in an oddly semi-formal manner. Back in high school, I had some of these traits, and often got derided as a "nerd".

"Geek" used to be a term that was used in a similar way, but it started evolving first. It became a descriptor, to mean "somebody who knew a lot about a particular topic". At first, these tended to be, well, geeky things. Computer geek, comic book geek, biology geek. And then, slowly, it began to apply to less "nerdy" topics. One could be a "music geek" - a term which, back in my day, might have only applied to nerdy guys who listened to Kraftwerk and Devo. There were then "movie geeks" and "ninja turtle geeks" and even "martial arts geeks" - a term that would've made zero sense a few years prior. Eventually, it seems "nerd" has joined "geek" to simply mean "somebody who is really immersed into this topic", with little or no disrespect meant, and no suggestion of ostracizing or other traits.

Lex

 

To be honest, I'm a little sick of people who are really into cosplay and stuff "stealing" the title. I was beat up in school when I was little for being a "nerd" because I like math and science.
I'd define a nerd not as someone who is immersed in a fictional universe. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with those people, but I think a true nerd is too busy doing academics to spend all of that time.

 

Being a nerd is being WAY farther into something than is normally expected, especially in a niche hobby. Some nerds learn how to make computers dance like marionettes, some of them make a scale model of Barad-Dur out of Legos, and some put on tactical gear and shoot each other with airsoft guns.

The core of nerdness is boundless effort focused on something you love, and it's awesome.

 

I've been called a nerd and a geek before, and even if they meant it as a insult or not, I always took it as a compliment. It's mostly due to me being pretty immerse into Pokemon and not really caring what people think. It's really hard not to be called one when I wear one of my Pokemon theme t-shirts make Pokemon related puns that no one gets. xD