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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>geek</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../G.html" title="G"/><link rel="previous" href="geef.html" title="geef"/><link rel="next" href="geek-code.html" title="geek code"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">geek</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="geef.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">G</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="geek-code.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="geek"/><dt xmlns="" id="geek"><b>geek</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one
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who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not
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mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of
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<a href="../N/neophilia.html"><i class="glossterm">neophilia</i></a>. Most geeks are adept with computers and
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treat <a href="../H/hacker.html"><i class="glossterm">hacker</i></a> as a term of respect, but not all are
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hackers themselves — and some who <span class="emphasis"><em>are</em></span> in fact
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hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite
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properly) regard ‘hacker’ as a label that should be bestowed by
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others rather than self-assumed.</p><p>One <a href="http://www.darkwater.com/omni/geek.html" target="_top">
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description</a> accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates
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“<span class="quote">gamers, ravers, science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers,
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nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to their
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high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion that they
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should have even wanted to.</span>”</p><p>Originally, a <span class="firstterm">geek</span> was a
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carnival performer who bit the heads off chickens. (In early 20th-century
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Scotland a ‘geek’ was an immature coley, a type of fish.)
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Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative. Earlier versions
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of this lexicon defined a <span class="firstterm">computer
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geek</span> as one who eats (computer) bugs for a living — an
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asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a
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cheese grater. This is often still the way geeks are regarded by
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non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more dependent on
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technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended to shift
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towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now ‘geek
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pride’ festivals (the implied reference to ‘gay pride’ is
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not accidental).</p><p>See also <a href="../P/propeller-head.html"><i class="glossterm">propeller head</i></a>,
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<a href="../C/clustergeeking.html"><i class="glossterm">clustergeeking</i></a>, <a href="geek-out.html"><i class="glossterm">geek out</i></a>,
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<a href="../W/wannabee.html"><i class="glossterm">wannabee</i></a>, <a href="../T/terminal-junkie.html"><i class="glossterm">terminal junkie</i></a>,
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<a href="../S/spod.html"><i class="glossterm">spod</i></a>, <a href="../W/weenie.html"><i class="glossterm">weenie</i></a>,
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<a href="geek-code.html"><i class="glossterm">geek code</i></a>, <a href="../A/alpha-geek.html"><i class="glossterm">alpha geek</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="geef.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../G.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="geek-code.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">geef<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>geek code</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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