Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
Why, those impetous buggers! I am a nerd, and quite proud of it!
vicious attack on nerds
- Thread starter EricNoah
- Start date
Here's my response to the terminological issues raised:
Nerd: A person who, on top of any latent inability, has decided that their social incapacity is just fine because social relations with the other human beings just aren't that important. A nerd will consciously choose to do what they consider very fulfilling non-social things, sometimes making a lot of money, sometimes none at all in place of the social things they have decided are not a priority. People who spend a lot of time programming fit well into the nerd definition. For nerds, the world outside of their interests is not only hard to cope with but boring.
Geek: A person who has difficulty multi-tasking and geeks-out about various things. Socially, this often results in inappropriate volume and intensity in conversation because the conversation, not the individual or the party are what really matters. A geek can move or refocus his tunnel vision but cannot actually turn it off. Geeks are notoriously socially inept because they have a choice of concentrating on the other person's verbal communication or non-verbal communication but not both. For geeks, the world is fully of interesting things to drop what you're doing and go get obsessed with.
Spaz: A spaz is someone who understands that they're out of their depth in a social situation, even when they're not. The result of this realization is to immediately become totally out of their depth. Essentially, being a spaz is a kind of social drowning man syndrome where, as it becomes more evident that one is drowning, one thrashes about more and more violently.
I'm proud of having progressed from being a nerd to a geek. And my anxiety management is getting better so I'm only sometimes a spaz.
Nerd: A person who, on top of any latent inability, has decided that their social incapacity is just fine because social relations with the other human beings just aren't that important. A nerd will consciously choose to do what they consider very fulfilling non-social things, sometimes making a lot of money, sometimes none at all in place of the social things they have decided are not a priority. People who spend a lot of time programming fit well into the nerd definition. For nerds, the world outside of their interests is not only hard to cope with but boring.
Geek: A person who has difficulty multi-tasking and geeks-out about various things. Socially, this often results in inappropriate volume and intensity in conversation because the conversation, not the individual or the party are what really matters. A geek can move or refocus his tunnel vision but cannot actually turn it off. Geeks are notoriously socially inept because they have a choice of concentrating on the other person's verbal communication or non-verbal communication but not both. For geeks, the world is fully of interesting things to drop what you're doing and go get obsessed with.
Spaz: A spaz is someone who understands that they're out of their depth in a social situation, even when they're not. The result of this realization is to immediately become totally out of their depth. Essentially, being a spaz is a kind of social drowning man syndrome where, as it becomes more evident that one is drowning, one thrashes about more and more violently.
I'm proud of having progressed from being a nerd to a geek. And my anxiety management is getting better so I'm only sometimes a spaz.
Pbartender
First Post
Roman said:
According to good old Uncle Webster, in alphabetical order, mind you...
Main Entry: dork
Pronunciation: 'dork
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps alteration of dick
slang : NERD; also : JERK (4 : an annoyingly stupid or foolish person)
Main Entry: geek
Pronunciation: 'gEk
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German
1 : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake
2 : a person often of an intellectual bent who is disapproved of
- geeky /'gE-kE/ adjective
Main Entry: nerd
Pronunciation: 'n&rd
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from nerd, a creature in the children's book If I Ran the Zoo (1950) by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
: an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits <computer nerds>
- nerd·ish /'n&r-dish/ adjective
- nerdy /-dE/ adjective
Main Entry: spaz
Pronunciation: 'spaz
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural spaz·zes
Etymology: by shortening & alteration from spastic
slang : one who is inept : KLUTZ
Darth K'Trava
First Post
diaglo said:
So you're the guy who actually buys those "redneck buckteeth" you can find at souvenir shops.....
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