Alan wrote:
Mr O wrote:
There may be subtle difference between the above but deep down
none of us can deny that we are not one or the other.
I am neither a geek nor a nerd.
You realize what they say about those who deny being something... :)
Maybe it's just the era or area that I grew up in, but "when I was a
kid"(tm), geek was a pejorative.
Yes. it was, and I am one that "they" labeled as such.
It was not a mantle of honor or a term of empowerment which seems to
be it's current usage (at least among those who identify themselves as
such, the rest of the country still uses geek as an insult).
On the contrary. I've found that many folks from throughout the world
now revere "geeks" and "nerds" as much or more than they were once reviled.
Those that don't tend to be the jocks and their hangers on that didn't
like us way back when anyway.
Nerd was even farther along the childhood insult continuum, being
essentially a geek with even worse social skills. A geek was
redeemable, a nerd was not. "Band Geek" as opposed to "Chess Club Nerd".
I was closer to the band than the chess club, but I was mostly a part of
the group that hung out in the lunch room playing speed or jacks or
hearts. We called ourselves the outcasts, and just did our own thing.
I know I was a geek, and have/had nerd tendencies. I identify with that.
Shoot me if I'm wrong for knowing myself.
Russ
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