So here I am on the other side of the digits 3 and 1. On Friday I had some friends over for ice cream cake and a viewing of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which was awesome. Thank you Megan for making me not look like the only geek who knows all the lyrics and sings them with abandon.
To that point, during the evening’s festivities, a young friend of mine posed the question, “What is the difference between a geek and nerd?” This inspired a hearty debate to which I disagreed with most people present and I’m still not ready to let it go. Ultimately what we could agree on was that geeks had better social skills than nerds, but that it hardly mattered because only other geeks could understand them.
Me? I feel like this can break down into a simple distinction:
If you...
- speak C++, Python, PHP, or Klingon
- own dice with more than 6 sides
- know what MMORPG stands for
- are regularly invited to dinner at a friend’s house only to hear the following question: “Oh, and while you’re here, would you mind taking a look at my computer?”
- plan your vacations around hotels with free wi-fi
- have ever shouted “Han shot first!” at the top of your lungs to anyone that would listen
- have never met most of your friends in person
...then you are a Geek
If you...
- find sonnets boring if their not written in iambic pentameter
- are on first name terms with your librarian
- didn’t know what MMORPG stood for but you’ve already looked it up because knowing is half the battle
- have ever audited a college course “for fun”
- are still twitching because I used “their” and not “they’re” in the first bullet point (Oh, fess up. I got someone on that one. I know I did.)
...then you are a Nerd
I did a little research in various online dictionaries on the connotations of the words “Geek” and “Nerd” and found that the terms are fairly synonymous to average Joe and the modern Thesaurus (NERD) but the above is my definition and I’m sticking to it like spirit gum to Spock ears (GEEK).
I’m not saying there is a problem with one or the other, or than being with one precludes you from being the other. And I’m not saying you have to agree with me. You can exist in whatever alternate universe you like so long as you don’t frack up the space-time continuum. Send me a postcard.