> > > I've been trying for some time to earn the
> > > title of "Nerd" but no luck yet. Maybe
> > > after I learn how to turn on my computer
> > > without help.
> > >
> > > So what's a geek? Please don't look that
> > > up in the dictionary. I'm referring to a
> > > computer geek, whatever that is.
> >
> > Having thought about this, I would say a geek
> > is somebody who actually *is* very good at
> > the sort of things nerds like to *think* they
> > are good at. For example, if I had a major
> > computer problem, I would not ask a nerd for
> > help, but I would ask a geek.
> >
> > I also think of "nerd" as a derogatory term
> > whereas "geek" is not.
>
> Last I checked, "geek" meant "freak," as in
> sideshow-type.

That's what I always hear people say it means, kind of in the same way that "gay means happy", but I personally have never heard anyone say it and mean that; I've only heard it said meaning, roughly, "nerd but worse".

-Eric Sleator
Mon 6 Jan A.D. 2002