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The first documented case of “geek” dates all the way back to 1916.
At the time, the term was used to describe sideshow freaks in circuses.
Specifically, it was typically attributed to those circus performers
who were known for doing crazy things like biting the heads of various
small live animals or eating live insects and the like. These
performances were often called “geek shows”. The word itself, “geek”,
came from the word “geck”, which was originally a Low German word which
meant someone who is a “fool/freak/simpleton”.
The first documented case of “nerd” was in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo,
in 1950. The specific text was: “a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker
too”. It was just one year after the Dr. Seuss book, in 1951 in a
Newsweek magazine article, that we find the first documented case of
“nerd” being used similarly to how we use it today. Specifically, they
used it as being synonymous with someone who was a “drip” or a
“square”.
There are two popular theories as to where the word derived from.
The first is that it was perhaps derived from “drunk” spelled backwards,
“knurd”. This was fitting to describe people who studied instead of
going out with friends and partying. A somewhat more popular theory
suggests that it came from a modification of “nut”, specifically
“nert”, which meant “stupid or crazy person” and was common in the
1940s, directly before the term “nerd” showed up. The word nerd ended
up becoming fairly popular in the 1960s and by the 1970s was hugely
popularized by the TV show Happy Days, where it was used frequently.
Bonus Factoids:
- Before “geek”, “nerd”, “dork”, etc, the proper terms for these same ragamuffins were “Dewdroppers”, “Waldos”, and “Slackers”. Other common old slang words that were somewhat similar in meaning: pantywaist, oil can, drip, stinkeroo, mullet, roach, schnookle, kook, dimp, dorf, squid, auger, square, Joe Zilch, and dudd.
- A similar term to “geek”, in British slang, is “anorak”. This is typically used synonymously with “geek”, though it tends to imply an even greater level of awkward behavior patterns, more akin to someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome.
- Another British slang term that is somewhat similar to geek/nerd/etc is “boffin”; this is someone who is incredibly smart. Its closest American slang term equivalent is probably “egghead”.
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