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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>knurd</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="../K.html" title="K"/><link rel="previous" href="knobs.html" title="knobs"/><link rel="next" href="Knuth.html" title="Knuth"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">knurd</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="knobs.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">K</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="Knuth.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="knurd"/><dt xmlns="" id="knurd"><b>knurd</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p>1. [RPI] Renssaleer Polytechnic Institute local slang roughly
equivalent to the positive sense of <a href="../G/geek.html"><i class="glossterm">geek</i></a>,
referring to people who prefer technical hobbies to socializing.</p></dd><dd><p>2. In older usage at RPI, the term signified someone new to college
life, fresh out of high school, and wet behind the ears.</p></dd><dd><p>An IEEE Spectrum article (4/95, page 16) once derived
&#8216;nerd&#8217; in its variant form &#8216;knurd&#8217; from the word
&#8216;drunk&#8217; backwards; this etymology was common at RPI. Though it
is commonly confused with <a href="../N/nerd.html"><i class="glossterm">nerd</i></a>, it appears these
words have separate origins (compare the
<a href="kluge.html"><i class="glossterm">kluge</i></a>/<a href="kludge.html"><i class="glossterm">kludge</i></a> pair).</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="knobs.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../K.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="Knuth.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">knobs </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Knuth</td></tr></table></div></body></html>