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She called me 'geek'
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
geek \geek\ (g[=e]k), n.
1. A performer in a carnival, often presented as a wild man,
who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting
the head off a live chicken or snake.
[PJC]
2. Hence: Any eccentric or strange person; an oddball; an
eccentric. [WordNet sense 1]
[PJC]
3. Hence: A student who is socially inept and a misfit in his
class, especially one who is an intellectual; a nerd; a
dork. [Informal]
[PJC]
4. Hence: An intellectually inclined person, especially one
who is interested in scientific or technical subjects; as,
a group of geeks wearing pocket protectors; -- originally
a deprecatory and contemptuous term, but in the 1990's,
with the increase in popularity of computers and the
frequency of accumulation of great wealth by computer
entrepreneurs, it has come to be used with noticeable
frequency by technically competent people to refer to
themselves, ironically and sometimes proudly. [Informal]
[PJC]
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From WordNet (r) 2.0:
geek
n 1: a carnival performer who does disgusting acts
2: a person with an unusual or odd personality [syn: eccentric,
eccentric person, flake, oddball]
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From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001):
geek n. A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves - and some who _are_in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard `hacker' as a label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed.
One description (http://www.darkwater.com/omni/geek.html) accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates "gamers, ravers, science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted to."
Originally, a `geek' was a carnival performer who bit the heads off
chickens. Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative.
See also propeller head, clustergeeking, geek out, wannabee, terminal junkie, spod, weenie, geek code.
I hope she meant the Jargon File thing...
(I never bit the head of a chicken... And actually I did go to the high school prom.. I just love dancing.)
But it is true, I love neophilia.
Posted on December 22, 2005
in Limit of my knowledge, Living in Belgium
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