Nerd, Geek
Nerd
Have you ever read or has someone ever read to you the (now somewhat controversial) book by Dr Seuss, If I Ran the Zoo? You may remember these lines…
“And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Ka-Troo
And bring back an it-kutch, a preep, and a proo,
A nerkie, a nerd, and a seersucker too!”
The book, published in 1950, is credited with being the first use of the word nerd in print. Around this time, nerd was also American student slang said to be related to the slang term nert (stupid or crazy person).
Nert, in turn, is attested from 1903 and may be an alteration of another slang term, ‘nut’. For example, nuts or nutty is often used to describe something crazy. Nut-house (an insane asylum) is from 1929. Nut-case meaning a crazy person is from 1959. The British use the term nutter. Nuts can also mean nonsense.
The first use of the word nuts to mean crazy or not right in the head is from 1846. However, interestingly, nuts meaning ‘to be very fond of’ is from 1785 and meaning ‘any source of pleasure or delight’ is from the 1610s. Perhaps people can seem crazy when they are very fond of someone or something (The word fond is also one of the sources of the word fun; but that’s another story).
In current usage, a nerd is usually a student who is seen as socially inept or slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits (heaven forbid!).
Geek
The word geek has its origins in Germanic and Scandinavian words meaning to croak or cackle, to mock or cheat; for example, Swedish gacka, German gecken, Dutch gekken. In the 1510s, the work geck came to English meaning a fool or simpleton.
The word geek, meaning a circus sideshow freak, is from 1916 from American carnival and circus slang. For example, a geek was a someone portrayed as a ‘wild man’ or as someone who as part of a circus act bit off (or appeared to bite off) the heads of chickens, snakes, and so on.
By 1983, geek was a slang term for students who often lacked social graces and who were obsessed with new technology and computers.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Have you ever read or has someone ever read to you the (now somewhat controversial) book by Dr Seuss, If I Ran the Zoo? You may remember these lines…
“And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Ka-Troo
And bring back an it-kutch, a preep, and a proo,
A nerkie, a nerd, and a seersucker too!”
The book, published in 1950, is credited with being the first use of the word nerd in print. Around this time, nerd was also American student slang said to be related to the slang term nert (stupid or crazy person).
Nert, in turn, is attested from 1903 and may be an alteration of another slang term, ‘nut’. For example, nuts or nutty is often used to describe something crazy. Nut-house (an insane asylum) is from 1929. Nut-case meaning a crazy person is from 1959. The British use the term nutter. Nuts can also mean nonsense.
The first use of the word nuts to mean crazy or not right in the head is from 1846. However, interestingly, nuts meaning ‘to be very fond of’ is from 1785 and meaning ‘any source of pleasure or delight’ is from the 1610s. Perhaps people can seem crazy when they are very fond of someone or something (The word fond is also one of the sources of the word fun; but that’s another story).
In current usage, a nerd is usually a student who is seen as socially inept or slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits (heaven forbid!).
Geek
The word geek has its origins in Germanic and Scandinavian words meaning to croak or cackle, to mock or cheat; for example, Swedish gacka, German gecken, Dutch gekken. In the 1510s, the work geck came to English meaning a fool or simpleton.
The word geek, meaning a circus sideshow freak, is from 1916 from American carnival and circus slang. For example, a geek was a someone portrayed as a ‘wild man’ or as someone who as part of a circus act bit off (or appeared to bite off) the heads of chickens, snakes, and so on.
By 1983, geek was a slang term for students who often lacked social graces and who were obsessed with new technology and computers.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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