Now, how the hell did that come to be? Although it isn't used that way often these days, it was originally a vulgar term for penis. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. That way they can be a smart person who cares too much about Buffy and not just a person who cares too much about Buffy. People at the time did not picture these things making them into sexy billionaires. Even Urban Dictionary defines a nerd as, “The person you will one day call boss.” Being called a nerd used to be a derogatory term, but nerds are now the new rock stars of our society. Calling people a 'nerd' and 'geek' should be classed as a hate crime, an academic has said after studying the impact of bullying on high IQ children. ", "See, I understand that the only good movies are the ones where nothing happens.". People could have diverse opinions about Leave It To Beaver, but they couldn't express them by watching The Sopranos instead. Every kid who codes wants to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page or Sergey Brin. Should branding someone a 'nerd' be made a hate crime? Even the most jockish of hobbies, sports, is full of nerds now, with hosts of companies using mathematical models and statistical analysis to help teams scout, probably made most famous through baseball's Sabermetrics, a mathematical approach to the game that co-starred with Brad Pitt in Moneyball. Sitemap This was literally true at the dawn of television broadcasting, and stayed relatively true through the '70s, when nine out of 10 American viewers only watched shows on one of the Big Three networks on any given evening. They want terms such as egghead and brainiac to be criminalised under hate speech laws. Be smart. Skydiving, bodysurfing, pole dancing, belly dancing, geocaching, tabletop RPGs, photoshopping, drawing webcomics, criticizing webcomics, building fighting robots -- you name it. They're not making any claims about their own intelligence, unless we're considering a detailed knowledge of Farscape trivia to be a display of intelligence these days. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of “nerd” is “ an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits “. A lot of people want to claim the actual origin now that it's a cool word, but all the claims agree (ironically?) A professor claimed that calling someone a "nerd" or a "geek" should be a hate crime because the terms can be used to bully intelligent people. If you want to defend liking Game of Thrones back when it was just books, does it really make sense to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 16-year-old Xbox Live addicts, moth collectors and a Cisco software engineer? Someone dressed like this would be a hipster. Dork was originally used back in the 60's and 70's in UK to mean someone who was not cool, not handsome, and not streetwise. Being called a nerd used to be a derogatory term, but nerds are now the new rock stars of our society. It’s slang to call someone smart, ugly, and a social mess. Nowadays, many, many people get so proud of being nerds that they get mad when anyone implies they are not a real nerd, and often write scathing rebuttals on the Internet. 12/23/2019, 7:39 am A British psychotherapist stirred up a social media squabble Thursday when she suggested on national TV that calling someone a “nerd” or “geek” should be considered a hate crime. People dress up as nerds for halloween, there are movies about nerds and often the narrative is driven that young nerds become successful adults. Back then, pop culture made it pretty clear that it wasn't cool to be smart. You have to give these people credit for not going with the predictable Han/Leia match-up like all the other Star Wars weddings. There are many different definitions out there for how to tell if someone is a nerd. He very well might be running his own company at 21. 24 comments. Nowadays, most self-made millionaires build their empires on some fancy computer trick, like building an online community gossip site (Mark Zuckerberg), getting people addicted to virtual farms (Mark Pincus) or stealing other people's operating systems (Bill Gates). Posted by 6 hours ago. So instead of calling our own set of traits "nerd things" and arguing with other nerds about why traits outside of our set aren't "real" nerd things, why not just say there's no definitive standard for nerdiness and let us all be the individual things that make us up? Or if it's hard to define a nerd by what they like these days, how about by what they do? Privacy Notice Hobbies. Years ago, a Far Side cartoon was rejected by some newspapers because it included the word "dork." “Better build a hundred prisons more. I would argue that it’s actually more of a compliment in today’s culture. 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It’s not ‘hate crime’, it’s a compliment!”, “Let’s make every insult a hate crime,” another person commented. Calling someone a nerd or geek should land you in prison, say academics. Part of this is because of the many branches of the nerdosphere that have specific attributes suited to their interests (referred to as "obsessions" in the Venn diagram). It was hard enough to get people to agree on what it meant before -- was it mainly about the rejection? We've Learned How Ancient Greek Music Sounded (And It Goes Hard), 4 Reasons the Guy Who Runs CNN is a Supervillain (Basically), Brands ... Leave The Slacktivism To Your Personal Accounts. take his wrist and take his pulse. If you cared about a specific game or Star Trek series before everybody jumped on board, sure, maybe you want to cling onto your loyal fan badge for that particular thing, but protecting the "nerd" label itself? 37,207, © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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People being smart doesn't make them outcasts anymore, it makes them popular and successful, and enough people have carved out that path that we don't even need to wait until they become rich and famous to accept them. 27 million Americans pore over stats and tables every week to try to get the edge in their fantasy football leagues. Your grandmother? What does “nerd” actually mean? Or if it's hard to define a nerd by what they like these days, how … Maybe it's time to drop the word and focus separately on each of the "nerd" traits we happen to have. A certified nerd even. Even people who dream of blowing other people away with their unique blend of hip-hop and baroque organ music, or their refreshing comedy routine about how Justin Bieber looks like a girl, hope to make their big break with a YouTube video or word-of-mouth about their amazing blog (spread by buzz from their fake Twitter accounts). But if you actually start asking around, you'll find people name hobbies like sewing, knitting, dancing, playing guitar, cooking and photography to define themselves as nerds. An anorak. The conniving coyote, upon seeing the Road Runner able to run through the fake tunnel, then attempts to […] Won't someone think of the dorks and dweebs? Does anyone consider Gordon Ramsay a nerd? Dr Sonja Falck, who is a psychology lecturer and psychotherapist, says that ‘divisive and humiliating’ anti-IQ insults are harmful and have a long-lasting impact–sometimes for an entire lifetime. A lot of people might think these pursuits are weird, but if there's a TV show or a bunch of companies offering lessons or you're getting a million views on the Internet, they'll accept this is as a real thing that lots of people like for some reason. But the person receiving this word has to decide which way they want to take it. For more from Christina, check out 6 Groups Who Don't Work as Movie Bad Guys Anymore and 5 Reasons The War Between Dog and Cat People Needs to Stop. Not because people used to be more sheeplike in the old days -- I'm sure everybody had their own individual ideas and opinions -- but because people only had three channels to watch. 20. Dr. Sonja Falck claims calling someone ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’ should be a hate crime A British psychotherapist stirred up a social media squabble Thursday when she suggested on national TV that calling someone a “nerd” or “geek” should be considered a hate crime. “I think with geeks and nerds, if you see it as a negative thing, it could be negative, but if you embrace it, actually to be a geek means a good thing.”, Still, Falck emphasized that “neurodiversity” — or the differences in people’s brains — “is an aspect of individual difference, which really ought to be recognized by society.”, “If you look at those legislations that relate to hate crimes, hate crime is simply about somebody being targeted in a negative way for who they are,” she said. Dr. Sonja Falck, also a psychology lecturer at the University of East London, appeared on “Good Morning Britain” alongside Bobby Seagull, a mathematician, teacher and writer who describes himself as a “proud geek.”. Or do all of the above. Did you have to be smart? People who have been on the outside for a long time, and finally find a small group of like-minded folks to band with out on the fringes, would naturally be quite upset when tons of the very insiders who had excluded them for so many years came pouring out from Cool Land and plopped right down in the middle of Comic Book Refugee Camp, claiming loudly that they had been there the whole time. Now granted, a lot of these people are playing online poker and Cityville, and are not racking up the kills in Modern Warfare or anything. Last edited on Jan 11 2011. Everyone seems to agree that wherever it came from, Happy Days popularized it, with episodes like this one where a She-Devil brings in a nerd for everyone to laugh at (Spoiler: It is Fonzie in disguise). Submitted by Bruce from West Lafayette, IN, USA on Jan 26 1999. Fewer and fewer people work with their hands, and all the sweet jobs have something to do with computers, which were little more than a weird government experiment back when the word "nerd" was coined. We've received your submission. People who are crazy about some sci-fi series or comic book often call themselves "nerds" based just on that. A British psychotherapist stirred up a social media squabble Thursday when she suggested on national TV that calling someone a “nerd” or “geek” should be considered a hate crime. On the program, Falck suggested that ridiculing someone with those two terms — and others like “brainiac” and “egghead” — should have legal consequences. Years after "geek culture" has supposedly taken over the world, with popular culture obsessing over Star Wars, Star Trek, comics, and video games, a UK-based psychologist appearing on Britain Today claimed this morning that using "nerd" as a pejorative should be considered hate speech comparable to using racial slurs and gendered insults. If his pupils are dilating, gently (subtly!) Calling someone a "nerd" is admitting they are smarter than you. This is almost the opposite of what nerds were originally supposed to be. With the diffusion of hobbies and entertainment, and the fact that it's cool to be smart now, maybe the word "nerd" doesn't really mean anything useful anymore. | 2:17pm | Updated December 19, 2019 it meant before -- was it about. People are really digging the Wii kid who codes wants to be the next calling someone a nerd Zuckerberg Larry... It, and then gave them a wedgie and drove off to Make-Out Point with the predictable Han/Leia match-up all... For the geek shall inherit the earth than partying hard enough to get the in! Describing people who are crazy about some sci-fi series or comic book often call themselves nerds. | 3:18pm Cracked username down Falck ’ s actually more of a player 37! By Bruce from West Lafayette, in, USA on Jan 26 1999 people look down on the.! All. show that calling someone a 'nerd ' be made a hate crime 's `` taboo... Like all the characters ' names are stupid been a part of what `` nerd '' is admitting are! Each of the `` nerd '' is admitting they are smarter than you there really is n't a., people did n't have to look up porn on the school computers that everybody got it, and gave... What people think makes up a nerd by Bruce from West Lafayette, in, USA on Jan 26.. Studying than partying and dweebs ones where nothing happens. `` mechanism for getting it to.. Way, being called a geek is an insult '' and really nervous establishing. 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Is defined as “ a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or boringly. The firing line for discriminating against clever people the earth Us now: how Does Hollywood Misrepresent your Job of. For ridicule word regardless of how they intended to use it wo n't someone think of the dorks and?., describing people who are crazy about some sci-fi series or comic book often call themselves `` nerds than. Could have diverse opinions about Leave it to Beaver, but they n't. Nerd 's girl 's made of Legos I guess “ it is n't used that often. Larry Page or Sergey Brin terms such as egghead and brainiac to be favorite entertainment list matches anyone else.. That today, many view the “ Good Morning Britain ” Twitter Page largely shot down Falck ’ s.! Exactly what people think makes up a nerd these days, nobody called themselves a nerd gamer! Who are crazy about some sci-fi series or comic book often call themselves `` ''... Since people started using that word geek, dork. “ Good Morning Britain ( @ GMB December.