Wacky Poll Nr. 46: are you a "nerd"?

[Monadology]

For me the term Geek implies that you have out of date glasses, you are non-athletic, and you are scrawny.

I am the opposite of all three . Nerds Unite, ftw.

It's the other way around to my mind. A geek has a long term obsession for something that goes beyond pure enjoyment,almost everyone here is a go geek but you can have philosophy geeks or coffee geeks or David Lynch geeks. A nerd has the same but for academic work and carries an implied level of social disfunction to go with it. Nerd, to me, conjures up an image of the spectacled, basement dwelling weed you describe while almost every male I know (this kind of obsession seems less common in women) has something they geek out about (doubly true if you allow for the idea of a football geek, or soccer geek to those of you living in non-english speaking countries like America.)

I had the terms nerd, geek, and dork explained to me once.

Nerd: Someone who knows everything about everything.
Geek: Someone who knows everything about a single subject.
Dork: Someone who is socially inept.

So, there is at least some truth to what you're saying.

Also, I assume since I live in America (USA) that I don't speak English, I speak American?
Another point, is it only the USA who says soccer? I thought that the rest of the world called it football.

I've heard multiple contradictory definitions for nerd and geek. Dork is pretty consistent.

[Fedya]

A geek, of course, is a carnival performer that bites the heads off of animals.

See Tyrone Power in the excellent and disturbing Nightmare Alley for an example. (I think for those in the US, it's coming up on the Fox Movie Channel this Sunday evening, and a couple of times in November. It's available on DVD, too.)

[CSamurai]

A geek, of course, is a carnival performer that bites the heads off of animals.

Archaic definitions are archaic!

My favourite definitions of nerd and geek:
Geek: Anyone who knows what the 10 types of people in the world are.
Nerd: Anyone who thinks there's a difference between nerds and geeks.

[Fedya]

A geek, of course, is a carnival performer that bites the heads off of animals.

Archaic definitions are archaic!

I don't know why I should vouchsafe a reply to your mockery. Just wait until I start correcting people who use "decimate" in a figurative manner.

[RazorBrain]

I had an Electrician Engineer friend of mine once brag that that geek is spelled with a 'EE.'