Geek vs. Nerd Monday, 27 December 2010 10:40 Written by Allan Libby

A question I get asked quite often is why I prefer Geek vs. Nerd, and what is the difference? The simple answer is I just like the word geek better than nerd, but I identify with both and am not offended if someone calls me nerd. As to what is the difference, that is a little more complicated as everyone seems to have their own definition. I have noticed some trends of late so I thought I would help clear up this issue.

To start off let's see what dictionary.com says about these two words.

Geek slang –noun
1. a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
2. a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
3. a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.

Nerd slang –noun
1. a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2. an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.

From dictionary.com’s definitions we can already see that both words are similar and are almost interchangeable. Both imply a lack of social skills and dislikeable traits in the person. A high level of intelligence is part of each word but not always present in the subject. The site’s definitions also seem to include computers as an integral part of each word.

When I polled a number of geeky/nerdy friends they all thought geek and nerd are not interchangeable and each has a distinct definition. Everyone agreed that both are similar, but the difference was in the specifics. I have noticed that here on the East coast people tend to think of Nerd as a generic term to depict someone as on the social fringe of society and interested in pursuits such as video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and anime. Geek is typically saved for a specific activity, such as a computer geek, or an anime geek. On a forum I frequent with a number of members from the West coast, it seems to be exactly the opposite.

So in conclusion, there is no real reason why I prefer Geek over Nerd, and the site is called It’s Geektime mostly because that was the best combination of words I could get for a domain name. There are slight differences between the words geek and nerd, but it seems to be a matter of preference of the person, not any real difference in technical definition.