What's the difference anyway?

[altivo]

From brunbera:

Pure Nerd 82 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 39% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 90% on nerdiness You scored higher than 39% on geekosity You scored higher than 58% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Comments

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

3 and 7 letters of the Alphabet?

[bariki.livejournal.com]

For me, the difference between a nerd and a geek has always been the fact that the latter gets paid, whereas the former does not. :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I believe nerd is a much older term. At least in the US, it always referred to the guy who would prefer reading a book to playing ball or going out on a date with a cheerleader. Probably he wore glasses when none of the jocks did, too. That word was in use when I was in junior high, you know, back right after the Civil War.

To me, geek was an idiot-savant. Someone who knows an inhuman amount of information about some specialized subject but otherwise probably could barely spell his name. It has shifted in meaning in recent years almost entirely to mean someone who is a computer expert. I do not like being called a geek (or a nerd, for that matter) and I don't like being called "computer guru" either, which happens far too often. And the reason is that people do assume this means you are a social idiot who knows about nothing else BUT computers, and that computers are your passion in life. Neither is true for me, nor ever has been.

Dork indeed has meant a socially-inept person for as far back as my memory stretches.

[bariki.livejournal.com]

You were in junior high as recently as that, eh? At least you're younger than my dad. :P

I can't recall a situation when someone has called me a computer geek (barring my mother who insists upon it because she can barely manage to turn her computer on and off, let alone use it). The 'computer person' or 'computer man' were common at the shop I worked in, and 'god' was a popular appelation that my colleauge (now landlord) called me in jest. ^)^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, geek isn't entirely limited to computers. I've also been called a cataloging geek because in recent years library schools and many libraries have (mistakenly in my opinion) de-emphasized cataloging and it is unpopular as a subject for many of the same reasons that the general population finds computer details unpopular (that is, you have to study it, it involves a great amount of detail and memory, and because it happens behind the scenes it is not glamorous) yet I have a strong interest in cataloging and I take it seriously. I don't like to hear the term applied there either because the underlying implication is that cataloging is an uninteresting and unimportant detail.

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

The Compact Oxford English dictionary defines "geek" as: 1) a person who is unfashionable or awkward in the company of other people 2) an obsessive enthusiast

It defines "nerd" as: a person who is obsessively interested in something and finds it difficult to get on with people.

"Dork" is defined as simply a "stupid person." It is also a slang word for the penis. :)

Nerd and geek are often used interchangably, but I see nerds as being the intelligent, brainiac ones with the sterotypical glasses, weak and frail physical stature, and love to spend all their time either reading books or on the computer.

Geeks are those who are obsessed with certain subjects or possess an abnormal amount of knowledge about something in particular, usually involving science fiction or fantasy. For example, Trekkies (people who are obsessed with Star Trek) or Star Wars fanatics are usually the paradigm examples of what a geek is. However geeks are often nerds as well and vise-versa as the two fit with each other quite well.

Dorks have about the same amount of social abilities as geeks or nerd(meaning none) but also lack the intelligence. In other words, dorks are simply both uncool and stupid.