Re: CHAT: opposite of "verneinen"

Mark P. Line scripsit:

> I assume that John was executing a pun that turns on the old meaning of
> geek (der Streber, somebody who affirms anybody in authority) and the new
> meaning of geek (der Geek, somebody who dreams in Unicode). It was funny
> because we all know that John is ein Geek but not ein Streber.
I only wish I had been anywhere near that clever.  No, I simply didn't want
to call myself a Geist, and Geek is what came to mind.  I didn't even know
then whether it was an extant borrowing, or one I was making ad hoc.

I would also add that "geek" in its pre-computer sense meant one who had
adult-like intellectual interests and did well in school, but was *not*
necessarily obsequious to those in authority.  I wasn't, particularly,
though I certainly wasn't a juvenile delinquent (to use the phrase of
those days) either; I simply went my own way and paid no attention to
anyone else.

--
Samuel Johnson on playing the violin:           John Cowan
"Difficult do you call it, Sir?                 jcowan@reutershealth.com
 I wish it were impossible."                    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan