Anerd is a person seen as over-intellectual,obsessive,introverted, or lackingsocial skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little-known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical, abstract, or relating to niche topics such as science fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities.[1][2][3] Additionally, many so-called nerds are described as beingshy,quirky,pedantic, andunattractive.[4]
Originally derogatory, the term "nerd" was a stereotype, but as with other pejoratives, it has beenreclaimed and redefined by some as a term of pride and group identity.[5] The term may be considered a synonym forgeek.
The first documented appearance of the wordnerd is as the name of a creature inDr. Seuss's bookIf I Ran the Zoo (1950), in which the narrator Gerald McGrew claims that he would collect "a Nerkle, a Nerd, and aSeersucker too" for his imaginary zoo.[3][6][7] The slang meaning of the term dates to 1951.[8] That year,Newsweek magazine reported on its popular use as a synonym fordrip orsquare in Detroit, Michigan.[9] By the early 1960s, usage of the term had spread throughout the United States, and even as far as Scotland.[10][11] At some point, the word took on connotations of bookishness and social ineptitude.[6]
An alternate spelling,[12] asnurd orgnurd, also began to appear in the mid-1960s, or early 1970s.[13] AuthorPhilip K. Dick claimed to have coined the "nurd" spelling in 1973, but its first recorded use appeared in a 1965 student publication atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).[14][15]Oral tradition there holds that the word is derived fromknurd (drunk spelled backward), which was used to describe people who studied rather than partied. The termgnurd (spelled with the "g") was in use at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by the year 1965.[16] The term "nurd" was also in use at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as early as 1971.[17]
According toOnline Etymology Dictionary, the word is an alteration of the 1940s term "nert" (meaning "stupid or crazy person"), which is in itself an alteration of "nut" (nutcase).[8]
The term was popularized in the 1970s by its heavy use in the sitcomHappy Days.[18] On 28 January 1978, recurring charactersThe Nerds premiered on Saturday Night Live. The term was further popularized in the 1984 filmRevenge of the Nerds.
Because of the nerd stereotype, many intelligent people are often thought of as nerdy. This belief can be harmful, as it can cause high school students to "switch off their lights" out of fear of being branded as a nerd,[19] and cause otherwise appealing people to be considered nerdy simply for their intellect.
It has been argued that intellectuals are automatically nerdy because they were secretly envied, arrogant, or out of touch. However,Paul Graham stated in his essay, "Why Nerds are Unpopular", that intellect is neutral, meaning that many high school students neither admire nor deride classmates for intelligence itself. He also states that it is only the correlation that makes smart teens automatically seem nerdy, and personally defines a nerd as someone deemed not socially adept enough. Additionally, he says that the reason why many smart kids are unpopular is that they "don't have time for the activities required for popularity," since they instead prioritize intellectual, solitary pursuits, at the cost of being branded as "nerds." He also goes on to criticize suburbia and the public education system for enabling a popularity contest.[20]
Stereotypical nerd appearance, often lampooned in caricatures, can include very large glasses, dental braces, buck teeth, severe acne and pants worn high at the waist. Following suit of popular use in emoticons, Unicode released in 2015 its "Nerd Face" character, featuring some of those stereotypes: 🤓 (code point U+1F913). In the media, many nerds are males, portrayed as being physically unfit, either overweight or skinny due to lack of physical exercise.[21][22]
It has been suggested by some, such as linguistMary Bucholtz, that being a nerd may be a state of being "hyperwhite" and rejectingAfrican-American culture and slang that "cool" white children use.[23] However, after theRevenge of the Nerds movie franchise (with multicultural nerds), and the introduction of theSteve Urkel character on the television seriesFamily Matters, nerds have been seen in all races and colors as well as more recently being a frequent young East Asian or Indian male stereotype in North America. Portrayal of "nerd girls", in films such asShe's Out of Control,Welcome to the Dollhouse andShe's All That depicts that smart but nerdy women might suffer later in life if they do not focus on improving theirphysical attractiveness.[24]
In the United States, a 2010 study published in theJournal of International and Intercultural Communication indicated that Asian Americans are perceived as most likely to be nerds, followed byWhite Americans, while non-WhiteHispanics and African Americans were perceived as least likely to be nerds. These stereotypes stem from concepts ofOrientalism andPrimitivism, as discussed in Ron Eglash's essay "Race, Sex, and Nerds: From Black Geeks to Asian American Hipsters".[25]
Some of the stereotypical behaviors associated with the "nerd" stereotype have correlations with the traits ofAsperger syndrome or otherautism spectrum conditions.[26]
Some measures of "nerdiness" are now considered desirable by many commentators. To some, "nerd" suggests a person who is intelligent, respectful, interesting, dedicated, individualistic, and able to earn a large salary doing what they love. Stereotypical nerd qualities are evolving, going from awkwardness andsocial ostracism to an allegedly more widespread acceptance and sometimes even celebration of their differences. Many so-called "nerdy people" have accumulated large fortunes, and many are able to find their niche in the American computer industry, concentrated in California'sSilicon Valley, the GreaterSeattle area (working for companies likeAmazon orMicrosoft), and theSilicon Slopes.[27] These engineers and programmers have influenced popular culture in many ways, caught the attention of the media, and effectively designed a new category of everyday objects.
Being adept with computers, often considered a "nerdy" interest, is now widespread and even an expectation in professional and academic spaces. Many celebrities in the first decade of the 2000s publicly expressed interest in smartphones and other handheld devices. Similarly, many stereotypical "nerdy" interests, such asvideo games,tabletop RPGs, comic book franchises, and fantasy and science fiction works, are now international popular culture hits.[28]
Johannes Grenzfurthner, researcher, self-proclaimed nerd and director of nerd documentaryTraceroute, reflects on the emergence of nerds and nerd culture:
I think that the figure of the nerd provides a beautiful template for analyzing the transformation of the disciplinary society into the control society. The nerd, in his cliché form, first stepped out upon the world stage in the mid-1970s, when we were beginning to hear the first rumblings of what would become the Cambrian explosion of the information society. The nerd must serve as comic relief for the future-anxieties of Western society. ...The germ cell of burgeoning nerdism is difference. The yearning to be understood, to find opportunities to share experiences, to not be left alone with one's bizarre interest. At the same time one derives an almost perverse pleasure from wallowing in this deficit. Nerds love deficiency: that of the other, but also their own. Nerds are eager explorers, who enjoy measuring themselves against one another and also compete aggressively. And yet the nerd's existence also comprises an element of the occult, of mystery. The way in which this power is expressed or focused is very important.
— Johannes Grenzfurthner, interviewed by Thomas Kaestle,Boing Boing, 14 April 2016[29]
In the 1984 filmRevenge of the Nerds,Robert Carradine worked to embody the nerd stereotype; in doing so, he helped create a definitive image of nerds.[30] Additionally, the storyline presaged, and may have helped inspire, the "nerd pride" that emerged in the late 1990s.[speculation?]American Splendor regularToby Radloff claims this was the movie that inspired him to become "The Genuine Nerd fromCleveland, Ohio".[31] In theAmerican Splendor film, Toby's friend,American Splendor authorHarvey Pekar, was less receptive to the movie, believing it to be hopelessly idealistic, explaining that Toby, an adult low income file clerk, had nothing in common with the middle class kids in the film who would eventually attain college degrees, success, and cease being perceived as nerds. Many, however, seem to share Radloff's view, as "nerd pride" has become more widespread in the years since.MIT professorGerald Sussman, for example, seeks to instill pride in nerds:
My idea is to present an image to children that it is good to be intellectual, and not to care about the peer pressures to be anti-intellectual. I want every child to turn into a nerd – where that means someone who prefers studying and learning to competing for social dominance, which can unfortunately cause the downward spiral into social rejection.
— Gerald Sussman, quoted by Katie Hafner,The New York Times, 29 August 1993[32]
Individuals who are labeled as "nerds" are often the target ofbullying due to a range of reasons that may include physical appearance or social background.[21] Paul Graham has suggested that the reason nerds are frequently singled out for bullying is their indifference to popularity or social context, in the face of a youth culture that views popularity as paramount.[20] However, research findings suggest that bullies are often as socially inept as their academically better-performing victims,[33] and that popularity fails to confer protection from bullying.[34] Other commentators have pointed out that pervasive harassment of intellectually-oriented youth began only in the mid-twentieth century.[35][36]
