this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
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Is "nerd" such a negative thing anymore? Seems like its been watered down to mean "I play at least one video game".
I use the term "classic nerd" for what was once "nerd" because I havent found another word that covers it.
Forty years later, people figured out that the nerds were making more money than God. Then nerd wasn't such a bad thing.
This is so confusing. Are you saying "classic nerd" is negative then? Your wording is kind of ambiguous. I don't think "nerd" has been watered down, just isn't very negative in the mainstream. I'd say it just means you're very enthusiastic about a certain topic. I don't think folks would call someone who just plays one video game a nerd, unless it's only one video game and they are super into it, like a "WoW nerd" maybe.
I don't think there's any need to gatekeep "nerd" though and require any additional qualifiers on it like "classic". Just seems like you're trying to say "actual" without sounding elitist about it.
I don't think they mean it to be negative. I assumed they mean its used more loosely now and has lost some of the meaning it used to have as a result. They can't find a more fitting word for what they want to say, so they just specify they mean the stricter definition of the word nerd.
I find the "stricter" meaning more ambiguous though. Nerd still applies to many subclasses of people back in the day. If you read too many books, nerd. Played video games? Nerd. Did math for fun? Nerd. Chess? Nerd. So saying "classic nerd" doesn't say much.
And in regards to being negative or not, it was more the ambiguity of their opening. They said the word "nerd" isn't negative anymore because it's watered down. So when they made a non-watered down version, it just seemed questionable in regards to the reason given for not being negative anymore.
Based on their response, yeah, I think it was just poor wording.
Perhaps it's because in the past people would never call themselves "nerds". Nerd and freak was an insult people would throw at you. So I think it did kind of change in meaning.
I interpreted the "stricter" definition as just being more intense. Like its only used to describe someone who reads constantly, and knows nearly everything about literature. Or someone who is almost obsessively studying math, or chess theory. Or someone who is very interested in numerous "nerdy" things.
Maybe that's not what they meant, I'm not sure. You're right, their wording is kind of ambiguous.
Even today I think nerd still involves some kind of obsession though.
Anyone could be into LOTR, especially after the movies came out. But it's kinda nerdy to have heated discussions whether or not leaving out Tom Bombadil was the right call (it wasn't!).
...it was tho.
Definitely. Thanks for being the one taking the bait. ;)
I've seen someone on a dating app describe herself as a "gym nerd". It hurt my soul a bit
Best case scenario is that she's really into the science behind physical training. In reality she probably just owns a pelaton.
Yes! Thats a nerd. We nerds used to joke that those soccer fans who knew every team and player, and their strengths, those were still nerds even if they wouldnt admit it.
Nerd is a compliment as far as I'm concerned.
It wasnt when and where I grew up. The stereotype was still the "Revenge of the nerds" or "Steve Urkel". But I kinda took the label as a shield when people used it on me and I learned what it meant. Why should I be ashamed of enjoying digging into computers and programming? Why would enjoying books or non-mainstream comics be such a negative thing? Why would playing more advanced video games be sad? Or finding math fun? And why was I the only one who would admit to enjoying it at school? I know a few people had some shared interest, but they never spoke of it at school. Also why yell out loudly that whatever I was lost in was utterly boring to them? And when reaching the next level of education and meeting people LIKE ME, the nerd label hardened. They were nerds, I was nerd. I learned about roleplaying games, MTG, even more advanced video games, that stuff that seemed was the domain of most nerds.
The nerd label meant someone who had multiple interests into stuff that average people called "boring". Finding people who called themselves nerds meant that they very likely shared some interests with me, or could teach me something new I would find interesting. So I am still a bit sore that people who bullied me for being a nerd later proudly declare themselves nerds for ONLY playing such a simple game as World of Warcraft when that was popular. It is about using a word for what seemed like it had its own meaning back then, who now have become a synonym for "gamer".
/u/pjhenry1216@kbin.social I dont consider that gate-keeping. I would welcome all and any to enjoy the things nerds enjoy. I just want to have a name for the subculture I joined and found belonging in. Words like goth have meaning still, and it isnt gatekeeping to assume it means people who enjoys dressing in all-black.
My gatekeeping was referencing a need for "classic nerd" vs "nerd". I find no need to differentiate between what it "used" to mean and what it means today. It makes more sense to categorize the type of nerd to be honest. I don't think anyone is "just" a nerd. They're a nerd in a certain topic or subject.
Nerd means the same thing, just expanded to include different topics. Nerd back in the day could mean various things. You could be a nerd for liking dinosaurs "too much" but didn't mean you knew about computers. So it's just that saying "classic nerd" doesn't really clarify who yorue talking about.
Nerd back in the day (at least where I lived) did mean something else though. It was a label people used for people they did not want in their group/community/neighborhood.
Idk but I now react like they said the N word and I gaslight them into feeling bad for using a slur.
Hilarious
Geek is the non-pejorative form of nerd, I believe.
To me, geek means someone that is obsessed over something non-harmful.
Movies, books, boardgames, video games, cosplay, anime, math, computers, applications, ...
A nerd is a geek who made the obsession their job. Like a professional geek.