Extended definition of geeks and nerds
“Haha! You play Dungeons and Dragons? You’re such a nerd!” The large, gorilla like man says to me, “actually...” I begin “nerds are more centered on academic and technical arts, I think the word you’re looking for is geek, as in: a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity as Merriam Webster puts it.” “Pff, whatever *geek*.” he responds, chuckling to himself as he walks away.
The definition of geek comes from old English geek or geck meaning “fool”, or “freak”, as well as the Dutch word gek, or “crazy”. Today, its definition is opaque and mutating, and it’s very rarely that you’ll get the same definition of the word from any group of people. But in today’s social world, a word like this must have a definition, and as it is a word that applies to people on every corner of the globe, it should be a concise and perfect definition. Thus the first part of the definition of geek is:
“Someone who finds great interest and has large quantities of knowledge about an activity that is either shunned from social norms as “silly” or “strange”, and does not include anything that directly relates to skills that one could bring into a workplace.” For example, someone who finds great interest in playing dungeons and dragons, and has done so for long enough to have experience to explain it would be considered a “geek”. However, someone who loves computer programming and everything about coding wouldn’t be considered a geek because there is actually a computer programming job market, that person would be called a “nerd” because while their obsession with computers fulfills all other aspects of the definition, it does have real word applications, whereas being a dungeon master does not. Additionally, while someone who plays World of Warcraft habitually would be considered a geek because it is a game that is largely made fun of and shunned by society, and someone who plays Farmville habitually would be considered something completely
The definition of geek comes from old English geek or geck meaning “fool”, or “freak”, as well as the Dutch word gek, or “crazy”. Today, its definition is opaque and mutating, and it’s very rarely that you’ll get the same definition of the word from any group of people. But in today’s social world, a word like this must have a definition, and as it is a word that applies to people on every corner of the globe, it should be a concise and perfect definition. Thus the first part of the definition of geek is:
“Someone who finds great interest and has large quantities of knowledge about an activity that is either shunned from social norms as “silly” or “strange”, and does not include anything that directly relates to skills that one could bring into a workplace.” For example, someone who finds great interest in playing dungeons and dragons, and has done so for long enough to have experience to explain it would be considered a “geek”. However, someone who loves computer programming and everything about coding wouldn’t be considered a geek because there is actually a computer programming job market, that person would be called a “nerd” because while their obsession with computers fulfills all other aspects of the definition, it does have real word applications, whereas being a dungeon master does not. Additionally, while someone who plays World of Warcraft habitually would be considered a geek because it is a game that is largely made fun of and shunned by society, and someone who plays Farmville habitually would be considered something completely