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…