Thursday, December 2, 2010

Geek or Nerd or Dork?

I consider myself a geek, which is all that really matter. However, ever since I listen to comedian Chris Hardwick's podcast, The Nerdist, I have been interested in the definitions and the differences between the two. I guess it all really started when he was describing his terminology and according to his nerd, I was it.
I classify myself as geek who can be nerdy on certain things, and who can be a dork at times. For example, I'm a nerd about Harry Potter cause I know a lot on the subject. Okay, pretty much everything on Harry Potter. I'm also a nerd about Greek Mythology, I've studied it and know quite a bit about the gods and goddesses and their legends/stories.
According to my enormous Webster's Dictionary, here are the definitions for nerd and dork. Geek wasn't in there (WTF), so I went to my handy dandy Blackberry app.

Geek: 1) a computer expert or enthusiast [does preferring Apple to PC count?], 2)a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual [okay, does being a film snob count, cause then yep], 3) a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken [whoa, what? no no no no no!]

Nerd: 1) an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person [nope, I've got good style and have friends], 2) a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits [yep, I think I'm pretty smart and I do like to have intelligent conversations]

Dork: an annoyingly stupid or foolish person [yep, definitely have those moments]

Okay, according to my computer's dictionary (yes, I was not happy with my phone's definition of geek)...

Geek: 1) an unfashionable or socially inept person [nope, the opposite], 2) a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest [Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner], 3) a carnival performer who does wild or disgusting acts [seriously? no.]

Okay, so I could be called both, and they would be equally correct. I'm still going to call myself a geek cause I like the second definition off my computer "a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest" because that definitely fits me. That's what I was trying to describe for myself but never could get out the words.

So, in the end, it really didn't matter what the definitions were, because I was going to find one that fit me anyway. Although, the fact that I looked up definitions for these words only proves that I am indeed a nerd.

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