Today, this usage is incredibly rare, and you can use geek as an insult or endearment, especially when describing yourself. In the past, the word geek was used to refer specifically to a carnival performer who performed disgusting acts. Geek is also used more generally to refer to someone who is especially passionate or knowledgeable about something, as in Shawna is the biggest Star Trek geek I know, going to all the conventions.Ī geek is also someone who is judged to be too intelligent and socially awkward or just quirky or odd, especially in high school groups, as in At my high school, the geeks got along with the goths but hated the jocks. When used to mean specialist or enthusiast, geek and nerd need not be considered offensive labels at all.Ī geek is a person who is an expert or fan of technology and computers, as in He gave the assignment to the geeks in the IT department. However, they are increasingly used by people to refer to themselves and others in reappropriated and validating ways. Geek and nerd, terms with a painful and exclusionary history, are not always appropriate labels to force on someone else. Further, the internet has helped people to find like-minded peers who share otherwise specialized and possibly isolating interests, connecting and creating thriving communities. The specialists in that technology, once belittled for their interests, became valued and pivotal members of society. Also, computer technology infiltrated almost every aspect of 21st-century life. Films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, and Star Wars became common cultural touchstones. Sci-fi was no longer a private niche of films and comic books, known only to fans of the genre. What changed? First, mainstream pop culture embraced science fiction toward the end of the 20th century. Today these labels are not predominantly used to stigmatize. Though often an expert in technology, science, or math, a nerd or geek can be a specialist or fan of almost any subculture imaginable: a French-cuisine geek or a Jane Austen nerd. Twenty-first century geeks and nerds are smart people of all ages (and genders) who are well-informed and care passionately about something. But in the 21st century, both words evolved to become nearly synonymous, and labels no longer to be ashamed of. The stereotypical high school or college nerd was picked on by the stereotypical jock and never stood a chance with the pretty, popular girl. The term nerd in the second half of the 20th century similarly described an unpopular, overly intellectual young person who was interested in science or math. Through what linguists call “semantic drift” (gradual change in meaning), a slang use of geek emerged in the popular culture of the 1980s to designate a newly marginalized group: smart and tech-savvy-but socially awkward-young enthusiasts of emerging computer technologies. Geeks were meant to put on horrifying spectacles for the normal people in the audience. In the first half of the 20th century, geek was the word for a circus sideshow performer who bit the heads off small live animals. Geek and nerd : are they marginalized rejects or cool pop culture specialists? It depends on the era in which these slang labels were applied.