In yesterday's post I used three different terms: nerd, geek, and dork. While it may have seemed that I used these words interchangeably, they each have distinct meanings, at least to me.
Nerd. Someone who is interested in academic pursuits, has extensive knowledge in their field of study, and is motivated by the pure enjoyment of the subject. For example, because I have an English degree and work as a technical writer, I qualify as an English expert, but because I like reading, writing, and having grammar-based discussions, I'm an English nerd. (Original meaning: Nerd first appeared in the Dr. Seuss book If I Ran the Zoo as a fictional type of animal.)
Geek. Someone who has strong interests in their hobbies, usually involving forms of entertainment, sometimes to an obsessive degree. For example, because I have extensive knowledge about comic book characters, particularly Superman, I'm a comics geek -- or at least a recovering one. (Original meaning: Geek was a slang term for "freak" or "fool" and at one point "geek shows" were attractions at carnivals wherein a person would eat the heads off of live chickens.)
Both of these terms involve the labeled person spending much of their time with their particular interests. That often means that they don't develop their social skills to the same extent as their peers. While they usually aren't socially savvy, nerds and geeks don't have to be social outcasts, unlike the next entry.
Dork. Someone who is socially inept and easily embarrasses either themselves or their more socially adept friends. For example, because I sometime times laugh extremely loudly at inappropriate times, I can be a bit of a dork. (Original meaning: Archaically, a dork referred to a whale's penis.)
As you can see, while these three words do have some overlap, they each have a specific meaning. And the fact that I laid it all out so explicitly probably makes me a bit of a dweeb.
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