knurd

n. 1. [RPI] Renssaleer Polytechnic Institute local slang roughly equivalent
to the positive sense of geek , referring to people who prefer technical
hobbies to socializing. 2. In older usage at RPI, the term signified someone
new to college life, fresh out of high school, and wet behind the ears. An
IEEE Spectrum article (4/95, page 16) once derived nerd in its variant form
knurd from the word drunk backwards; this etymology was common at RPI.
Though it is commonly confused with nerd , it appears these words have
separate origins (compare the kluge / kludge pair).

