I got called a geek today. What does this actually mean? I went on a soul-searching tour of Wikipedia.*
*[Ironically, this very reaction may provide all that is needed to answer the titular conundrum]
The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe odd or non-mainstream people, with different connotations ranging from “an expert or enthusiast” to “a person heavily interested in a hobby”, with a general pejorative meaning of “a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual”.
So far, worrying accurate and not very complimentary…
Although often considered as a pejorative, the term is also often used self-referentially without malice or as a source of pride. Its meaning has evolved to connote “someone who is interested in a subject (usually intellectual or complex) for its own sake.”
Oh, well that’s all right then.
This word comes from English dialect geek, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German. The root geck still survives in Dutch and Afrikaans gek: crazy, as well as some German dialects, and in the Alsatian word Gickeleshut: geek’s hat, used in carnivals.[1] The Swedish transitive verb gäcka (to outsmart, to fool) has the same root; att gäcka rättvisan (to escape justice by clever tricks) is a set expression.
Formerly, in 18th century Austria-Hungary, Gecken were freaks shown by some circuses. In 19th century, in North-America, the term geek referred to a performer in a geek show in a circus or travelling carnival side-shows (see also freak show). The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows. Wrestler Freddie Blassie originated the term “pencil necked geek”.
I starting to like the term less and less…
The definition of geek has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive meaning. The term nerd has a similar, practically synonymous meaning as geek, but many choose to identify different connotations among these two terms, although the differences are disputed. In a 2007 interview on The Colbert Report, Richard Clarke said the difference between nerds and geeks is “geeks get it done” or “ggid” Julie Smith defined a geek as “a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace—somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager’s room in his parents’ house.”
What an amazing description!
It seems to me that the rise of “geek chic”, particularly in America has muddied what it means to be a geek. In the same way that being a Goth became fashionable and so completely subverted the point of standing out away from fashion, does the idea of geeks being cool negate the whole point of being a geek?
Should I be “geek and proud”, “geek and indifferent” or just ignore the whole question and say that I am who I am, who God has made me to be, and not defined by any label?