Nerd vs. Geek
Difference between Nerd and Geek: – Each high school has them, athletes, kids, drug addicts, nerds and geeks. These stereotypes emerged in the 1940s and 1950s and are still in force today. For some, being called nerd or geek is an insult; but others embrace that title with pride. As more people embrace their titles, more distinctions appear between the two terms. Nowadays, many of the people who consider themselves geeks are offended with the title of nerd and vice versa.
Etymology of nerd and geek
“Nerd” was first seen in 1950, as a nonsense word in Dr. Seuss’s book “If I Ran a Zoo”. It was then used as a synonym for an urban social category for about ten years. It then came to be associated with social ineptitude and stupid fashions.
“Geek” originally comes from the word meaning “monster” in medieval English and has similar roots in German and Dutch. It then began to be used in the United States and is often used to describe carnival performers. For a time, this term was also used to refer to nerds or nerds; but lately it has been given a more positive connotation.
Difference between Nerd and Geek
“Nerd” today is used to refer to nerds, obsessed with academic life, the esoteric and all kinds of conventional social norms; such as courtesy, hygiene.
“Geek” currently refers to someone who enjoys enormously everything about a particular area of study, but these unlike nerds; which are mostly only in estimated in books, also like computers, music, movies and video games.
Image stereotypes of nerds and geeks
The image of the nerd or nerd was codified by television of the 80’s, in which the nerds are shown as people with no criteria at the time of dress and who usually wear poorly adjusted clothes. Typically, they wear large glasses, orthopedic appliances and bad haircuts. In addition, they live in close relationship with the academic world.
On the other hand, the geeks are today flaunting their entire “geek repertoire”. There is a huge market for t-shirts that perfectly fit these characters, with phrases like “Hi, my name is Inigo Montoya” and “Schradinger’s cat is dead”. Geeks often wear large framed glasses and elbow jackets.
Key differences between Geeks and Nerds
- While nerds are the typical “comelibros”, the geeks are considered intelligent; but a little more “weird”.
- Nerds are considered inept in social situations, while geeks can be very popular. The latter have to relate to groups that share their interests.
- Mostly, nerds focus on science, while geeks can focus and specialize on any particular subject.
