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Nerd, as a stereotypical, archetypal and frequently derogatory designation, refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric knowledge or pastimes rather than engaging in social life, such as participating in organized sports or other mainstream social activities. Merriam-Webster defines a nerd as an "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person: especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits." While nerd, dork, and geek share in passionate intellectual pursuits and social ineptitude, nerd has the added implication of being affable and amusing. A nerd is often excluded from physical activity, and is often considered a loner by peers.

Etymology

The word nerd first appeared in Dr. Seuss's book If I Ran the Zoo, published in 1950, where it simply names one of Seuss's many comical imaginary animals. (The narrator Gerald McGrew claims that he would collect "a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker too" for his imaginary zoo.)

The slang goes back at least to 1951, when it was reported as a relatively new usage in Detroit, Michigan first by Newsweek and then the St. Joseph, Michigan, Herald-Press. By the early 1960s, usage of the term spread through the United States and as far as Scotland. Throughout this first decade, the definition was consistent—a dull person, a synonym of square, drip and scurve. During the next decade, it took on connotations of bookishness as well as social ineptitude, and the spelling nurd began to appear. The University of South Dakota's journal, Current Slang, contains four entries for nurd and one for nerd in 1970 and 1971.

The first recorded use of the nurd spelling appeared in 1965, in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Bachelor. Oral tradition at RPI holds that the word was coined there, spelled as knurd (drunk spelled backwards), to describe those who studied rather than partied. This usage predates a similar coinage of knurd by author Terry Pratchett, but has not been documented prior to the nurd spelling in 1965. A spelling variant gnurd was in wide use at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by 1971 and continued at least until the mid-1970s.

Other theories of the word's origin include a variation on Mortimer Snerd, the name of Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy, and the Northern Electric Research and Development labs in Ontario (an old name for modern-day Nortel), suggesting images of engineers wearing pocket protectors with the acronym N.E.R.D. printed on them, and a claim by Philip K. Dick to having coined nurd. The Online Etymology Dictionary speculates that the word is an alteration of a 1940s term nert meaning "stupid or crazy person," itself an alteration of nut. Another theory is that the word "nerd" is an abbreviation of the old English term "ne'er do well" - to describe somebody who will "never do well" in life.

The term itself was used heavily in the American 1974 – 1984 television comedy Happy Days which was set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the mid-1950s, and in one episode, "They Call It Potsie Love", introduced the reverse-spelled dren as meaning its opposite. (This has no known or documented relationship to either instance of the drunk/knurd reversal.) In 1984, the film Revenge of the Nerds was released starring Robert Carradine, and Anthony Edwards. Carradine in particular worked very hard to embody the nerd stereotype and in so doing helped define it for many years to come. Additionally, the storyline presaged and may have helped inspire the "nerd pride" that emerged in the 1990s.

Characteristics

The stereotypical nerd is intelligent but socially and physically awkward. In film and television depictions, nerds are disproportionately white males with glasses and braces. It has been suggested by some, such as linguist Mary Bucholtz, that being a nerd may be a state of being "hyperwhite" and rejecting African-American culture and slang that "cool" white children use. However, after the introduction of the Steve Urkel character on the television series Family Matters, nerds have been seen in all races and colors, especially, in recent years as a recurring young Asian male stereotype. Further, the term and its use predate the popularity of African-American behavior mimickry in some whites, which did not really take off in significant levels until the early 1990's. Also, many popular whites haven't acted or dressed in an African-American style at all, such as the grunge trend, for example.

They typically appear either to lack confidence or to be indifferent or oblivious to the negative perceptions held of them by others, with the result that they become frequent objects of scorn, ridicule, bullying, and social isolation. They show a pronounced interest in subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, especially topics related to science, disambiguation, mathematics and technology. Nerds are often portrayed as either obese or incredibly thin. They are also stereotyped to playing role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, MMORPGs, and other things relating to fantasy and science fiction. They are also stereotyped for being obsessed with Star Trek and other sci fi shows or movies.

Nerds and Asperger syndrome

Many traits associated with the nerd stereotype, in particular an unusual penchant for accumulating highly specialized or technical knowledge, impaired social ability and/or occasionally poor motor coordination, are characteristics of Asperger syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder. The existence of the nerd concept in popular consciousness might be attributed to a tendency for certain behavioral and cognitive predispositions to covary, which at the extreme results in forms of autism. In support of this possibility, studies using a measure of autistic tendencies, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) developed by Simon Baron-Cohen, find that occupations commonly linked to the nerd stereotype, especially fields of science and engineering, are associated with elevated AQ, with the highest average AQ seen among computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists. Other studies have found associations between heightened AQ and prenatal testosterone exposure as well as genetic factors, suggesting a distinct genetic and developmental basis for traits associated with the nerd stereotype.

Contemporary pride

The 1984 movie Revenge of the Nerds explored the concept of "nerd pride" to comical effect. American Splendor regular Toby Radloff claims this was the movie that inspired him to become "The Genuine Nerd from Cleveland, Ohio". In the American Splendor film, Toby's friend, American Splendor author Harvey Pekar, was less receptive to the movie, believing it to be hopelessly idealistic. Many seem to share Radloff's view as "nerd pride" has become more widespread in the years since.

The popular computer-news website Slashdot uses the tagline "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." Similarly, the Charles J. Sykes quote "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one" has been popularized on the Internet and incorrectly attributed to Bill Gates.

MIT professor Gerald Sussman aims to instill pride in nerds:

"My idea is to present an image to children that it is good to be intellectual, and not to care about the peer pressures to be anti-intellectual. I want every child to turn into a nerd - where that means someone who prefers studying and learning to competing for social dominance, which can unfortunately cause the downward spiral into social rejection."

— Gerald Sussman, quoted by Katie Hafner, The New York Times, 29 August 1993

Nerd Pride Day has been observed on May 25 in Spain since 2006. The holiday tries to vindicate the right to be a nerd and to express it in public without shame.

An episode from the animated series Freakazoid titled "Nerdator" has a plot line that involves the use of nerds to power the mind of a Predator-like enemy, who delivers a memorable monologue on the importance of nerds:

"…what they lack in physical strength they make up in brain power. Who writes all the best selling books? Nerds. Who directs the top grossing Hollywood movies? Nerds. Who creates the highly advanced technology that only they can understand? ...Nerds. And who are the people who run for the high office of the Presidency? No one but nerds."

The Danish reality TV show FC Zulu, created by Nordisk Film established a format wherein a team of nerds after two or three months training competes with a professional football (soccer) team. The internationally franchised format is generally known as FC Nerds, and is broadcast in Australia under the title Nerds FC.

Nerdcore hip hop is a genre of hip hop music that has risen in popularity over the last few years. Nerdcore typically express nerd themes often with pride and humor. Notable artists include MC Plus+, MC Hawking, MC Lars, MC Chris, and MC Frontalot. "Weird Al" Yankovic has also recorded "White and Nerdy". The term "nerdcore" has seen wider application to refer to webcomics (most notably Penny Arcade, User Friendly, PvP, and Megatokyo) and other media that express nerd themes uninhibited.

Notes and references

1. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. "Nerd."
2. Geisel, Theodor Seuss, If I Ran the Zoo, p. 47, Random House Books for Young Readers, New York, 1950
3. Newsweek (1951-10-8), p. 16
4. St. Joseph, Michigan, Herald-Press (1952-6-23), p. 14
5. Gregory J. Marsh in Special Collections at the Swarthmore College library as reported in Humanist Discussion Group (1990-6-28) Vol. 4, No. 0235.
6. Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday Mail (1957-2-10)
7. Current Slang: A Quarterly Glossary of Slang Expressions Currently In Use (1970), Cumulation Vol. III & IV, p. 88.
8. Current Slang: A Quarterly Glossary of Slang Expressions Currently In Use (1970), Vol. V, No. 1 Summer 1970, p. 21
9. Current Slang: A Quarterly Glossary of Slang Expressions Currently In Use (1971), Vol. V, No. 4, Spring 1971, p. 17
10. RPI Bachelor (1965), V14 #1
11. Personal Correspondence (1973-9-4) reported on the web
12. The Online Etymology Dictionary. "Nerd."
13. Happy Days, episode 53: "They Call It Potsie Love" (1975-12-02)
14. Lori Kendall. "OH NO! I'M A NERD!": Hegemonic Masculinity on an Online Forum. Gender Society. 14:256. (2000)
15. Ron Eglash. Race, Sex, and Nerds. Social Text. 20: 49 (2002)
16. Benjamin Nugent (July 29, 2007). "Who's a Nerd, Anyway?". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
17. S. Baron-Cohen, S. Wheelwright, R. Skinner, J. Martin and E. Clubley, The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) : Evidence from Asperger Syndrome/High Functioning Autism, Males and Females, Scientists and Mathematicians, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 31, 5-17 (2001)
18. Rebecca Knickmeyer, Simon Baron-Cohen, Briony A. Fane, Sally Wheelwright, Greta A. Mathews, Gerard S. Conway, Charles G.D. Brook and Melissa Hines. Androgens and autistic traits: A study of individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior, 50, 148-153 (2006)
19. Francesca Happe, Patrick Bolton, Lee M. Butcher, et al. Genetic heterogeneity between the three components of the autism spectrum: a twin study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 45:691 (2006)
20. Hensley, Dennis (2003-09-02), "Revenge of the nerd: American Splendor's Toby Radloff is out and proud about his sexuality and his nerddom", The Advocate {{citation}}: Check |author-link= value (help); External link in |author-link= (help)
21. Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. (2000), Some Rules Kids Won't Learn in School, retrieved 2007-07-22

See also

• Anorak (slang)
• Dork
• Boffin
• Geek
• Geek chic
• High school subcultures
• Nerd Pride Day
• Asperger syndrome
• Fear of Girls, a short film about Nerds
• Revenge of the Nerds, a 1984 film about college nerds' revenge on the jocks
• Angry Video Game Nerd

Further reading

• Tocci, Jason. "The Well-Dressed Geek: Media Appropriation and Subcultural Style" (Paper given at the MIT5 conference. PDF, 180kb).
• Kendall, Lori. "'The Nerd Within': Mass Media and the Negotiation of Identity Among Computer-Using Men." Journal of Men's Studies, 7(3) (1999): 353-69.
• Kendall, Lori. "Nerd Nation: Images of Nerds in U.S. Popular Culture." International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, 260-283 (1999)
• Kendall, Lori. "'Oh No! I'm a Nerd!': Hegemonic Masculinity on an Online Forum." Gender & Society, 14 (2) (2000): 256-274.

Female nerds

• Bucholtz, Mary. ""Why be normal?": Language and identity practices in a community of nerd girls." Language in Society (1999), 28: 203-223. Cambridge University Press.
• Newitz, A. & Anders, C. (Eds) She's Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff. Seal Press, 2006.

In Japan

• The Otaku Group From A Business Perspective (PDF, 366kb). Japan, 2004.
• Okada, Toshio. Otaku Gaku Nyumon (Translated: 'Introduction to Otakuology'). Ohta Verlag. Tokyo, 1996.

Substantial cinema-released documentaries

• $100 & a T-Shirt (2004) (A feature-length documentary on U.S. fanzine editors).
• Genuine Nerd (2006) (Feature-length documentary on Toby Radloff).

Background material

• Frayling, Christopher. Mad, Bad And Dangerous?: The Scientist and the Cinema. Reaktion Books, 2005.

External links

• NerdPoint A discussion forum for nerds.
• "Why Nerds are Unpopular" An essay by Paul Graham about the conformist society in American highschools.
• .We are all quite nerds. Graphic design project about nerds.
• Wikihow.com A short description of the differences between geeks and nerds.
• "The Nerds have won", an article in the American Scientist

• Stereotypes
• Subcultures
• Slang expressions
• Stock characters
• Anti-intellectualism