nerd

In US slang: a contemptible or boring person, especially one who

is studious, conventional, or 'square'; a dweeb.

Etymology: Of uncertain origin: possibly a euphemistic

alteration of turd, but perhaps simply an allusion to a nonsense

word used in Dr Seuss's children's book If I Ran the Zoo (1950):

And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And

Bring Back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, a Nerkle, a

Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!

History and Usage: Nerd itself has been in use in US slang

since the sixties, but enjoyed a fashion in the late seventies

and early eighties which led to the development of a number of

derivatives and compounds. Notable among these are the

adjectives nerdish, nerdlike, and nerdy and the nouns

nerdishness and nerdism. The nerd affects a fussy, conventional

(and, some would say, pretentious) style of dress and appearance

which became known as the nerd look; the quintessential

characteristic of the nerd, a plastic pocket protector worn in

the top pocket to prevent pens from soiling the fabric, was

nicknamed the nerd pack. The word nerd had supposedly gone out

of fashion by the late eighties in favour of dweeb and other

synonyms, but it and its derivatives had by then already spread

to the UK and continued to appear frequently in print, even in

US sources, into the early nineties. A British variation on the

same theme is nerk, a stupid or objectionable person (probably

formed by telescoping nerd and jerk to make a blend); the

corresponding adjective is nerkish.

To make the simplest and most effective statement of

your nerdishness, all you need to do is go out and buy a

bra. Not the kind associated with women, but the black,

oozy, plastic kind that dimwits put on the front of

their cars. The auto bra is at its nerdish best when

used on cars costing less than oe10,000.

 

Cedrico and Angelita...would call them aunt and uncle if

they didn't consider such titles nerdy.

Alice Walker Temple of My Familiar (1989), p. 395

Most people think of BBSs as crude hacker forums where

computer nerds trade tips on how to pirate software or

break into the Pentagon's computers.

Computer Buyer's Guide 1990, part 3, p. 34

Nerdpacks are for engineers and computer programmers who

have earned their status as nerds, or

compulsive-obsessive gadget freaks.