Computer geek or computer nerd? Which is most offensive or is neither?

I think that we have successfully adopted both terms as compliments. ^_^

It’s very “in” to be a nerd/geek these days, so neither are offensive.

Computer freak, not in the least bit offensive & diverse too.

@ucme

Hey, I like that :)

I find geek slightly less offensive as it has connotations of competence whereas nerd doesn’t. A nerd is a geek without skills.

@Buttonstc Yeah, when used in the right place, freak is a massive compliment.
One of those words that have evolved over time, a positive spin.

I think neither is really offensive, but that said I do not use either term..

I had a friend in high school who was the definition of a classic nerd, he would have fit into the revenge of the nerd movies quite well, but he didn’t like being called a nerd, I think he was fine with geek though. I’m also an uber nerd and have no problems with either term, of course my computer skills aren’t anything spectacular. But having worked IT Support once for six months I no longer say I don’t know anything because as stupid as it sounds, plunging things in was actually a problem I had to fix more than once…

I’ve never liked either term.

Although it is mildly amusing that back when I was called those as insults, those same people are posting cat pictures on Facebook and can’t live without the Internet.

This is all giving me a fascinating perspective on all of this terminology.

@mrentropy

I can certainly understand why you feel as you do about terms which were hurled at you as insults.

Just for curiosity, is there a colliquial appellation that you would prefer that could stand in for the rather torturous “person who is unusually proficient with computers” ?

@jerv

That’s an interesting perspective on the diff between the two.

Do you remember the short-lived but fondly remembered TV program “Freaks And Geeks” ?

Neither, if you are into it. As @jerv points out, geek implies knowledge [witness Best Buy’s Geek Squad]. It’s a far cry from the original meaning of geek, when it was used disparagingly to computer buffs [another term]—geek originally meant “A sideshow freak, especially a pinhead retard who bit the heads off live chickens” and was used to insult non-jock computer buffs/nerds like Bill Gates was as a teenager.

Meaning changed significantly with “he who laughs last laughs longest.” Probably because it once was the most offensive, it is now the least offensive. It is worn with pride.

@Buttonstc Not really. It rarely comes up. I’m just some guy who does what he does.

Nerd is a label that conjures images of a pocket protectors, broken glasses held together with duct tape, and buck teeth. Geek has come to mean an otherwise “normal” person who likes nerdy things.

Wall Street Journal uses both equally positively

@anartist

What a great article that is. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I’m going to repost this link to a gaming site where several of us got into a side discussion about children attaching gender stereotypes to colors like purple. It then evolved to include careers in computers and engineering for women and how expectations are changing.

(Also one of the women there managed to access about 400 pages of computer code related to the inner workings of the game and is currently sharung a lot of those insights with all of us. Obviously she works in computers.)

Thanks for this article. Loved it.