Nerdy ‘n Proud
My boyfriend and I sometimes (read: maybe once or twice) have small tussles over the definitions of the words "geek," "dork" and "nerd." It is my prevailing attitude that I am all of the above in the most positive of ways. I also say that my boyfriend is a "science geek" simply because he knows his stuff; however, he could also be labeled a "literary nerd" by yours truly because he devours books and is a creative writer. Of course, no guy seems to like the appellation of nerd, geek or dork even if, in my boyfriend’s case, I mean it in the most loving and admiring of ways–in sum, the names are not going to make it into our "terms of endearment" pantheon. In my case, however, labeling myself as such is an appropriation of a once-derogatory term. Yes, I’m a nerd, geek and dork – want to make something of it, punk?
But, even if IP doesn’t fancy these terms, I know that I do. Thank God there’s a test floating around the Internets (TM Dubya) so I can find out which category I fall into, and I totally nailed it:
| Pure Nerd 86 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 26% Dork |
| For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally Congratulations! |
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My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating |
I too scored as “pure nerd”, with 78% Nerd, 21% Geek, and 34% Dork. I scored higher than 86% of people of my age/sex on nerdiness, higher than 14% on geekosity, and higher than 60% on dork points. So I’m not quite the nerd you are, and a bit more of a dork, but nowhere near the geek.
The geek part (how low my score is) is actually kind of puzzling, given their definition, but from the questions on the quiz I get the idea that “geekiness” is more about the outward manifestation of your enthusiasm than anything else. So if I spend all my time obsessing about something extremely obscure – like, say, fish teeth – but think it’s no one’s goddamned business that I do so, then I’m not a geek. If I go out and buy a fish teeth t-shirt, decorate my apartment with fish teeth themed art, and get a fish teeth bumper sticker for my car (and there is someone I know who has an “I Brake For Mastodons” bumper sticker on his truck, so it’s not all that out there), then I suddenly become a geek, even if I don’t really know all that much about them.
The dork part is no surprise, and I agree fully with the sentence on the test as to its root causes.
While I accept the words “geek”, “dork”, and “nerd” are not synonymous, and while I’ll even accept the definitions the test used (though maybe not how they measured them), I still think the words are all derogatory. There are plenty of complimentary ways to express the same sentiments (like: “wow, you know so much about x” or “how did you learn all that about y?”) without labels that all imply that there is something unusual about love of learning/a certain subject/whatever. But that’s just me.
And that’s why I don’t want to use the labels on you–everyone has a different perception on word appropriation (the big example that I purposely neglected to use in the post was “bitch”). Like I said, I admire your intelligence and level of curiosity, and shouldn’t stoop to using labels on you that, to you, de-emphasize that brain power and knowledge-seeking. As a counter-example to your rejection of the word, there’s my brother M, who LOVES calling himself a geek, nerd, dork, what have you. To paraphrase the end of your post, in regards to differences: That’s just all of us. Words have power, and to not recognize what one thing might mean to another person can result in hurt feelings or major misunderstandings.
I’m not surprised at my geek score–you know I grouse to anyone at anytime about the state of the language. I think that’s my geekiness. As for my dorkiness, I’m a klutz and on the shy side. Sure, I definitely could’ve done with some developing on those points, but the klutzy side of me has provided us with some laughs. :)
But really, what it comes down to is this, especially if you reject those words: We’re wicked smart. Period.