Editor's Corner

Hello, folks!

The other day I referred to myself and a coworker as “word nerds.” I didn’t think much of it, but then the very next day I received this comic strip from another reader:

For those of you who grew up in the 1980s, I think the terms nerd, geek, dork, and dweeb might make you cringe. For others, they might not seem too bad. These are the dictionary.com definitions, with some added extras in brackets from Merriam-Webster.

dork: “a silly, out-of-touch person who tends to look odd or behave ridiculously around others” [KC – “socially awkward, unstylish person.” And my dad told me it was a “bad word” when we were kids. The article says the same, so be careful if you use it around your elders.]

nerd: “socially awkward” and “an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit” [KC – “a person devoted to intellectual, academic, or technical pursuits or interests.”]

geek: “a digital-technology expert or enthusiast” and “a person who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity” [KC – And a mouthful from M-W about geeks:

1: a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked

2: an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or
activity

computer geek

3: a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually
includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake]

dweeb: “wimp; a stupid or uninteresting person.”

I’m happy to say, that despite how awful some of these things sound, they’ve turned around a little over the years. Again, from dictionary.com:

Today, being a geek or a nerd no longer implies that you’ll receive a horrible wedgie and get thrown in a locker. Based on popular usage of these terms, geeks and nerds are a new brand of cool kid.

Geeks and nerds, unite!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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