Philotic Web

Now don't even get me started on the difference between nerds and geeks...

This has got me curious, what does everyone think the difference between a nerd and a geek is?
Is one better than the other?

As I've always understood, in common terms, a nerd is someone who is both gifted intelligently, is socially outcast/disabled, and acts in a pretty stereotypical manner required thereof, normally with obsessions on standard nerdy or geeky affair. A geek is not necessarily gifted intelligently, but acts upon the same obsessive affairs.

...but I guess that's been changing, and they now describe different levels of obsession with a topic. Example: the difference between "band geek" and "band nerd." One describes someone who is part of the band and considers being part of it necessary to their personality. A band nerd's life revolves around the band.

The bottom line is that a nerd is "more of" whatever a geek is.

[edit]

Alternatively:

Geek: A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
Nerd: A person who is intellectual, skilled in one or more fields, and generally introverted

QFT

QFT

I saw the thread title, and went looking for this very picture. Opened the thread, and saw that someone had beaten me to it.

Nerd: Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker
Geek: Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker

Geek: A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.

To put it very gently. I don't know that they even ever made it into the main carnival instead of just the dodgy sideshows.

Geek: A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
Nerd: A person who is intellectual, skilled in one or more fields, and generally introverted

Pedantry is enjoyable sometimes, but the geek one in particular is always annoying to me because, no, these are distinct words with different modern usage and people use them in different contexts. It's just difficult to figure out which ones.

Like how "quite" can mean such different things! Sometimes it means "very" and sometimes it means "hardly." But why!?

I saw the thread title, and went looking for this very picture. Opened the thread, and saw that someone had beaten me to it.

Where have you been hiding?!

I saw the thread title, and went looking for this very picture. Opened the thread, and saw that someone had beaten me to it.

Where have you been hiding?!

I've been checking pweb for.. 2 or 3 months straight, now.. I think. I just don't often post.

You can blame Alea. For the checking pweb, not the lack of posting. That one is all me.

~Boro

:)

It makes me happy to have you here, even if it's in a quieter capacity than I/we would like.

Pedantry is enjoyable sometimes, but the geek one in particular is always annoying to me because, no, these are distinct words with different modern usage and people use them in different contexts. It's just difficult to figure out which ones.

Like how "quite" can mean such different things! Sometimes it means "very" and sometimes it means "hardly." But why!?

I mostly find it entertaining. Fun fact, though, I did come across the terms 'geek' and 'geeking' in the carnival sense in a book I read recently. The third book of Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, World of Wonders, deals a lot with carnivals in the first half of the twentieth century.

Geek: A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
Nerd: A person who is intellectual, skilled in one or more fields, and generally introverted

Pedantry is enjoyable sometimes, but the geek one in particular is always annoying to me because, no, these are distinct words with different modern usage

You really think there's no connection between a geek being someone performing bizarre/unappetizing behavior and the modern sense of "geeking out over something"? Did you somehow have the great fortune to miss elementary and middle school?

Like how "quite" can mean such different things! Sometimes it means "very" and sometimes it means "hardly." But why!?

Quite can't be quantified, but I've never seen it used in a context that would suggest interpreting it to mean anything other than a moderate-to-large degree of some adjective. Can you provide an example of it meaning this?

I've never seen it used in a context that would suggest interpreting it to mean anything other than a moderate-to-large degree of some adjective.

Ditto.

From the World English Dictionary:

quite (kwaɪt)

— adv
1. to the greatest extent; completely or absolutely: you're quite right ; quite the opposite
2. ( not used with a negative ) to a noticeable or partial extent; somewhat: she's quite pretty

From what I understand, the use of it to mean "small but not super-noteworthy amount" is mostly British English, but it's used a variety of ways in all English. Mostly America where it is said to have a "definite" meaning, but it's a difficult-to-define term. That was all I was getting at...

See, to me, the definition provided seems to support elf's usage. Can you give a few examples?

Honestly I've hard it in the exact same way you would use it to mean "really," but to mean "just barely above noticeable."

"It's quite cold."
"She's quite pretty."
"I'm just quite ready."

And when I tried to define the word to the party in question, I found it was difficult to define what "quite" meant, because it is a varied word that means a lot different in different contexts, and to different cultures.

This is how I've always used the word and alwas heard the word used:

quite[ kwahyt ]
adverb
1. completely, wholly, or entirely: quite the reverse; not quite finished.
2. actually, really, or truly: quite a sudden change.
3. to a considerable extent or degree: quite small; quite objectionable.

The first two examples you gave don't really sound like you're saying "to a small degree," and definitely not exclusively so. The last one does like your definition, but it sounds weird. Google Ngrams has no history of "just quite ready" in its collection. It does have "just not quite ready," which is how I'd have phrased it.

That's what I'm saying! That's the absurdity of it all! Next time I see the person in question where this discussion came up, I'll get more examples, but the continued discussion of this has gotten us quite off track. I apologize for using it as an example of how word definitions can change depending on your culture. It was just something I had learned about recently. Geeze, here's the first blog post that pops up when I search for "British use of the word quite", which confusingly has yet another minor change in definition, insisting Americans use it to say "very" while Brits use it to say "fairly," which is a minor but meaningly distinction.

...just like one might say is the difference between "nerd" and "geek."

I never knew people were so opinionated on this topic.. :O

I feel... informed.

The girl's informed, quite informed.

Also, this: http://www.loupdargent.com/2012/05/pers ... nerds.html

EL were talking about "geekiness" today, and noticing that it sometimes feels like it has become popular and companies are responding to that somewhat (an offhand example being Prada doing steampunk). Some part of me wonders if this doesn't mean the death of being geeky as we used to understand it. The chart you linked to, casandra, convinces me somewhat that this is indeed the case as it appears to conflate hipsters with geeks.

As an open question, is this a thing? Do these traits of liking things "before it was cool", liking things ironically, or being deliberately pretentious (without necessarily the study to back their claimed knowledge and ability) apply to geeks? In short, is 'hipster' just a new, derogatory term for 'geek'?

I read a quote on another forum that the difference between hipsters and geeks is small but important: hipsters get offended when the thing they like gets popular because they don't want to share it and a geek gets ecstatic when the thing they like gets popular because they want the whole world to love it with them.

I feel like hipsters like everything before it was cool, whereas geeks tend to focus on one area. And I think I agree with Alea's quote.

Does it make me a hipster nerd to be annoyed about people wearing nerdy glasses without lenses to look cool? Because I find that to be a great affront to nerdom.

These are my reading glasses. I kind of love them in their slightly antiquated design.

As for things getting popular, I think I just get a bit worried when I see historically geeky things being merchandised in major stores like Urban Outfitters and the like. Some part of me worries that by making geek-related things so present and expensive without having any real substance, the whole point of finding it cool is lost.

I don't see how introducing something into a popular culture market inherently makes it less substantial. Just because people may latch on to it for less than deep reasons doesn't in one way change the source material and weaken it.

I don't see how introducing something into a popular culture market inherently makes it less substantial. Just because people may latch on to it for less than deep reasons doesn't in one way change the source material and weaken it.

It's the principle of the thing. =]