why do people call people nerds ???? it makes me mad when people do stuff like that

Noone Ever Really Dies N.E.R.D

 Although seriously; in my experience most chessplayers are nothing like the steryotypical nerd. We are gamers. And anyway - there's nothing wrong with having an active brain but no dress sense or social skills .

 I, for one, have no qualms about self-describing as a "chess nerd," in addition to  the many other types of "nerd" that I am.  However, I also have social skills and other productive attributes; being a nerd doesn't give you an excuse to be awkward, unclean, or lacking in other areas.  But I digress...

 My point is that the word Nerd, to me, means that someone has a great deal of passion for and knowledge of something that is not mainstream.  Whether it be Chess-nerd, Politics-nerd, Law-nerd, science-nerd, in its contemporary usage, it is hardly a derogatory term...unless, of course, it is used by middle-school to high school children who also use fag and gay as the catchall to describe something or someone they don't like.

Bottom line, if you're a nerd, embrace it, but try to be a nerd in more than one thing!  It always helps to not be a lazy, smelly, pretentious nerd, but rather a friendly, fit, and interesting nerd!

Bowens wrote: Quixotical wrote:

...there's nothing wrong with having an active brain but no dress sense or social skills...

... 

Whether it be Chess-nerd, Politics-nerd, Law-nerd, science-nerd, in its contemporary usage, it is hardly a derogatory term...unless, of course, it is used by middle-school to high school children who also use fag and gay as the catchall to describe something or someone they don't like.

... 

I couldn't agree more.

ha ha, that's a funny thread. Hum..to add my two cents, the more i think of it and try to define the term, the more it seems to evade me. I'm not sure smartness is the quintessential factor for nerdiness. I know people with phds who are not nerds, and others with a 90 IQ who are absolute nerds (though it could be argued that IQ and academic degrees are not necessarily the most determining proof of intelligence). Anyhow...

For me anyway, being a nerd is more of a social and behavioral phenomenon as opposed to a testament to one's intelligence. For instance, Neil, from Family Guy, is the archetype of Nerd yet Stewie is clearly smarter, while remaining cool AND gay. I guess being a nerd does not have anything to do with one's sexual preferences...lol...  

Be it roleplaying games, computer stuff, conspiracy theories about the illuminati or chess, the nerd seems to not only be obsessed by his passion, but also completely oblivious to the fact that most people couldn't care less. That usually makes him/her socially awkward, though in this day and age, who cares. Lots of chick dig it, though most don't. I don't think people call nerds off because they are envious of their superior mental prowesses, but simply because they are vulnerable social preys. When I personnally call someone a nerd, it's usually with some affection and laughter. Indeed, nothing wrong with being a nerd. Assert yourself, nerds of the world !

 Obviously, I don't take myself seriously at all and this is nothing but a light discussion, so please, keep your angry comments to yourself.

There's nothing wrong with being a nerd. I for one take pride in my nerddom, knowing the fact that my GPA is probably double that of anyone who uses that term in a degrading way. They'll most likely end up working under you anyway. Just look to the future!

NERDS, UNITE!

Dyslexics of the world, untie!

The word "nerd" first appeared as the name of a creature in Dr. Seuss's book If I Ran the Zoo (1950), in which the narrator Gerald McGrew claims that he would collect "a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker too" for his imaginary zoo.^[1] The slang meaning of the term dates back to 1951, when Newsweek magazine reported on its popular use in Detroit, Michigan.^[2] By the early 1960s, usage of the term had spread throughout the United States and even as far as Scotland.^[3][4] Throughout this first decade, the definition—a dull person—remained constant and was, at the time, a synonym for "square" or "drip." It was only later, in the 1970s, that the word took on connotations of bookishness and social ineptitude.

An alternate spelling, as nurd, also began to appear in the mid-1960s or early 70s.^[5] Author Philip K. Dick claims to have coined this spelling in 1973, but its first recorded use appeared in a 1965 student publication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.^[6][7] Oral tradition there holds that the word is derived from "knurd" ("drunk" spelled backwards), which was used to describe people who studied rather than partied. On the other hand, the variant "gnurd" was in wide use at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology throughout the first half of the 1970s.

Other theories of the word's origin suggest that it may derive from Mortimer Snerd, Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy, or the Northern Electric Research and Development labs in Ontario (now Nortel). The Online Etymology Dictionary speculates that the word is an alteration of the 1940s term nert (meaning "stupid or crazy person"), which is itself an alteration of "nut."^[8]

The term was popularized in the 1970s by its heavy use in the sitcom Happy Days.

Now if posting the correct etymology from Wikipedia doesn't make me a Nerd, then I'm just not cut up for the job.

the bottom line is so true!!! so many people struggle to fit in to other groups that they forget what is it they really want. i believe in doing watever you want, be it chess or whatever even if it puts you in the not-so-popular-crowd.

I understand completely what you mean. I'm a teacher, too... and I occasionally go into 'Nerd Teacher' mode when I'm teaching something particularly interesting. My students seem to think it's funny, but hey, they're probably just laughing at me. :)

Not that I particularly care. I'm used to making an ass out of myself in front of children and teenagers... which brings me to my point. If you happen to be a teenager posting here, don't let it get to you, cause things like this should cease to matter when you're an adult.

 It's offensive slang for someone who's gay... or sometimes flippant if you actually are gay. The comment is funny cause it's either a pretty good attempt at being tongue in cheek, or so full of contradictions that it's hard to know where to begin. :)

this will help you know about nerds go on youtube.com search white and nerdy

Not that im a rude person at all, but why get mad about somebody calling somebody else a nerd? If it was you, and you got a problem with it, then do something about it. If you dont like the fact that somebody else is sitting there taking it, then do something for them. 

Nowadays, nerd doesnt even have a negative connotation, so who cares. But if somebody throws a rock at you, come back with a brick. Bad analogy, but really....

i wish i was a nerd...   chicks dig nerds... well the non trampy ones anyway...

im nerdy but just not smart...  so i guess you'd go with dork for me...  although being a dork became cool at some point i think...  and losers became the new thing...   so im a loser... but if i were a nerd, i'd be darn proud of it...