Re: On nerds and dreamers

Herman Miller wrote:
> Sally Caves wrote:
>
>> Meanwhile, back to nerd and geek.  What do others think is a distinction
>> between these two?   "Geek" does seem to have gravitated more to the
>> technical side than "nerd" does.
>
>
> I think "geek" still has connotations of weirdness or bizarre habits,
> while a "nerd" would be involved with things that most people consider
> to be boring and uninterested in more social activities. I tend to
> prefer the word "nerd" since I learned that "geeks" were originally
> carnival performers who supposedly did things like biting off the heads
> of chickens. Why someone would pay to see that is beyond me....
>
> But I've heard the usage of "geek" referring to a carnival performer
> exactly once, in the lyrics of a song which a little Google searching
> reveals to be "The Carny" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. So I don't
> think it's probably that well known. I think Andreas Johansson's
> definitions are closer to my understanding of these words.

That song is also the only place where I've heard "geek" being actually
used (not just defined) to mean a carnival performer. However, I suspect
this usage is more well known where it developed, in the US, and it was
exported only after the meaning had moved on (or expanded)...

s.
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