JargonFile/entries/geek.txt

geek

n. A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who
pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream
social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks
are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all
are hackers themselves and some who are in fact hackers normally call
themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard hacker as a
label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed. One
description accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates gamers, ravers,
science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and
trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and
many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted
to. Originally, a geek was a carnival performer who bit the heads off
chickens. (In early 20th-century Scotland a geek was an immature coley, a
type of fish.) Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative.
Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a computer geek as one who eats
(computer) bugs for a living an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac
with all the personality of a cheese grater. This is often still the way
geeks are regarded by non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more
dependent on technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended
to shift towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now geek pride
festivals (the implied reference to gay pride is not accidental). See also
propeller head, clustergeeking, geek out, wannabee, terminal junkie,
geek code.