2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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geek
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who
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pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream
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social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks
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are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all
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are hackers themselves and some who are in fact hackers normally call
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themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard hacker as a
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label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed. One
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description accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates gamers, ravers,
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science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and
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trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and
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many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted
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to. Originally, a geek was a carnival performer who bit the heads off
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chickens. (In early 20th-century Scotland a geek was an immature coley, a
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type of fish.) Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative.
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Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a computer geek as one who eats
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(computer) bugs for a living an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac
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with all the personality of a cheese grater. This is often still the way
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geeks are regarded by non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more
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dependent on technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended
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to shift towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now geek pride
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festivals (the implied reference to gay pride is not accidental). See also
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propeller head , clustergeeking , geek out , wannabee , terminal junkie ,
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spod , weenie , geek code , alpha geek.
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