From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 1996 12:55:41 +0800
To: ichudov@algebra.com (Igor Chudov)
Subject: Re: Nerds, Dykes, Niggers, Dweebs, Fags, Bimbos, and Geeks
Message-ID: <ae1ebfc60502100428f0@[205.199.118.202]>
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At 12:13 AM 7/27/96, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
>Timothy C. May wrote:
>>
>> I just cringe when I meet young programmers at Cypherpunks who mumble "I'm
>> just a computer geek." Fine, I write them off as geeks.
>>
>
>OK, I am a foreigner. Can anyone explain me what the word "geek" means
>and what are the origins of this word? I thought it was a cool word,
>meaning someone orthogonal to the present world but being able to
>change it.

No, "geek" is not a "cool" word.

"geek  n. Slang. 1. An odd or ridiculous person. 2. A carnival performer
whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live
chicken. (Perhaps alteration of dialectical "geck," fool, from Low German
"gek," from Middle Low German." (American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language, Third Edition)

And the full Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, Magnifying Glass
Version, gives essentially the same definition, and cites an 1875
appearance in American slang. It mentions a "dumb sideshow stooge."

Until recently, this was the only usage I knew of. One heard girls pointing
at "geeky guys" and saying "What a geek!"

Still think it's a "cool" word?

How programmers came to adopt this as a badge of pride is beyond me. (I
guess they don't especially care what the girls think, especially of course
if they're one of the oh-so-popular "Geek Queers"--I don't even want to
_think_ about what they bite the heads off of.)

That foreigners are arriving in the U.S. and calling themselves "geeks,"
"dweebs," and "nerds" reminds me of those old cruel ploys of teaching
foreigners a few words of English, e.g., "I am a very shitty person, fuck
you very much!"

Sad, real sad.

--Tim May



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