Which would you rather be called, Geek or Nerd?

[osirus]

My computer screen and program windows are all starting to look like non-rectangular parallelograms to me. This is slightly troubling, but not so much as to be worrisome. Or perhaps the other way around. I find that there are some pairs of words where we want to say that one is worse than the other, but it's hard to know which is which, since people disagree over which word is the superlative (or at least, greater intensity) form. I always think of "geek" and "nerd" as a great example of this; many people seem to prefer one of these words as indicative of smarts without being too freakish, but which word they prefer tends to vary. I can't post a poll, but trust me, it varies. (ETA: pallasathene82, however, has posted one.)

This all came up because the_star_fish mentioned that a friend of hers had posted something about being "happy" versus being "content". And I think depending on the day, I might say contentment is a base state of settling, while happiness is a loftier, higher goal. Or conversely, that being happy is a small transient thing, while being truly content is about one's life as a whole.

Conveniently, these days I'm mostly both. the_star_fish and her flair for delicious international cooking (we had pad thai, bulgoki, bibimbap, and mole chicken just this week!) keep me very content with my life as a whole. And this weekend was good too, with my improv show attended by a full house including avagrrl, lynnini, and my old freshman year advisor from college. Why, if I just had people to pay me lots of money for creating humor, life would be well-nigh perfect. (Contrary to what some foolish hobgoblins would have you believe.)

Comments

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

In general I'm more likely to self-identify as a geek -- even with modifiers: religion geek, humanities geek -- but I don't mind either term, and fly both freak flags proudly.

Why, if I just had people to pay me lots of money for creating humor, life would be well-nigh perfect. (Contrary to what some foolish hobgoblins would have you believe.)

\o/

[pinkrhino.livejournal.com]

Nerd, because that gives me more reason to wear my t-shirt that says "Talk nerdy to me." :)

[malinalda.livejournal.com]

I have a button that says that. :)

As for me, I use both to describe myself in different contexts. I think of "nerd" as being more about academia and "geek" as being more about technology/gaming/etc.

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

I prefer geek, as I think of it as having more street cred. :) I perceive nerd to be more of a social misfit than geek, though I also think of geeks as being more specialized, i.e. computer geek versus history geek, and so on. Then there's dork...

[osirusbrisbane.livejournal.com]

Yeah, nobody really wants to be a dork. And it's totally true about being a geek in a specific area, but the word nerd can be used that way too.

[malinalda.livejournal.com]

I dispute this! I am proud of my dorkiness as well as my nerdiness and geekiness. :)

[osirusbrisbane.livejournal.com]

seriously? Then I guess I stand corrected.

[pallasathene82.livejournal.com]

Well, I do have the ability to create polls, BEHOLD!

[lynnini.livejournal.com]

It depends what I'm talking about. If I'm talking about being smart, IE: Computer Geek, versus being...well....a Star Trek TNG Nerd. Both are appropriate, for different reasons about different things.