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The way people complain about nerds
For one thing, nobody's forcing you to read the stuff nerds say. You're bringing this frustration on yourself.
For another thing, you talk all the time about nerds being oversensitive and whiny, but the more you complain about it, the more your complaints start to sound exactly like the whiny bullshit you describe. There comes a point where I can't tell the difference between a guy posting "FINAL FANTASY X SUKKS BAWWWW" because he means it, and the guy posting "FINAL FANTASY X SUKKS BAWWWW" in order to mock him.
Comments
The "nobody's forcing you" arguament is both obvious and it stinks as an arguament. I don't have to pay attention to the internet's horrors but it doesn't mean they won't still bother me with their existence.
Just wanted to get that out of the way.
Could someone explain to me what the word "nerd" means? I feel like I hear it a lot here and on TV Tropes, but I still do not really understand what makes someone a "nerd" or whether people are supposed to self-label as "nerds" or whatever. Are you automatically a nerd if you play video games or watch anime? Is calling someone a nerd just another way of saying you do not like them or is it a neutral term?
I apologize for asking so many questions about this, but for some reason I never really learned this stuff. I always thought that "nerd" was a pejorative that people used to describe those with certain personality traits and interests so I found it strange when people used it differently here and on TV Tropes.
ITT: Nerds as an homogeneous group.
Yeah, the idea of "nerd culture" confused me and was part of the reason why I asked what nerd meant. I rarely see anything unified when I look at what one may associate with being a nerd.
Hatter,
A nerd is someone who spends way too much time and money on imaginary
things. Bonus points if they're overweight (or, more rarely,
underweight) and have poor hygiene.
Do you think you could clarify what you mean by imaginary things? I tend to not think that video games are imaginary for example, but I suppose many people associate them with nerds. If I am understanding you correctly, your view of nerds is rather negative, right?
IanExMachina,
football/sports/cars but if your hobbies are considered abnormal
culturally then you are a nerd.
Alright, I think that makes some sense. Do you think you could you still be classified as a nerd if you like watching sports, play a sport, and like stuff like anime and video games?
Anyway, thanks to those who helped answer my question, I appreciate it.
MousaThe14, I will try to read that a little later and get back to you on it.
Well Louie, I'm trying to narrow that
down, but I suppose in this context people are using nerd to mean geek
to mean people who have large interests in media, usually to the level
of a collector or hobbyist and usually involving a lot of speculative
fiction, oh dash it all, just read here and the follow up.
I think the definition you use for nerd that is associated with being intelligent matches up with the pejorative use of the word I mentioned earlier and I do think your discussion there is somewhat interesting. I wonder about the part of your definition that says that "f it is an academic field with real life applications or at least has a
real field of study and you are intellectually vested in it, you are a
nerd." Does that make all professors, graduate students, and people who actually enjoy learning nerds?
Also, if someone is not particularly bright, is it possible for him or her to be a nerd/geek? Similarly, if someone is not so good at games, but really like playing them, can he or she be a nerd/geek? Sorry for asking so many questions.
IanExMachina,
I guess that makes sense. Personally, I think that just shows that trying to group people as nerds is pretty silly. I mean, if liking "non-nerd" things and "nerd" things are not mutually exclusive, I see no real need for that term. That being said, perhaps people are really referring to social awkwardness and the like when they say word like nerd. I suppose that makes it more an identifier of personality traits than anything else.
Vorpy,
A nerd is somebody who can't excel in physical activities.
I am interested in hearing what you mean by "excel" there. If for example, someone is physically active, but is not very good at say playing soccer, basketball, or football, is he or she still a nerd?
It has also been adopted as a term of identification among various subcultural groups, and consequently is sometimes applied to people who participate in or share some of the interests of those groups as a more-or-less neutral descriptive term.
Also, the way I see it:
nerd = someone with a significantly-higher-than-average degree of knowledge about a particular subject, combined with a significantly-higher-than-average amount of enthusiasm for the same subject. Especially if said subject is academic. May be used as an insult implying that said person focuses on that subject to the detriment of 'eir ability to otherwise lead life normally (according to local social standards), usually with an emphasis on social skills. May also be used as a group self-identification term among self-described "nerds".
cf. "geek", which carries a similar meaning, but is more often used if the subject has to do with computers or non-mainstream entertainment.