The word “nerd” has almost always had a negative connotation. Now, according to Merriam-Webster the word nerd means “an unstylish, unattractive or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits <computer nerds>” but to be completely honest I think that’s a pretty small box to put everyone who has ever been called a nerd into. I myself have been called a nerd, numerous times, but the name has varied from being hateful to endearing. Maybe I am socially inept, and quite frankly, I don’t want to get into my appearance or fashion sense (or lack thereof), but I know many people who call themselves “nerds” but defy the stereotype. By no means am I ever encouraging, or even justifying, name-calling. However, while I usually do trust Merriam-Webster with every definition I’ve ever bothered to look up, I think it’s better if society accepts Urban Dictionary’s definitions instead. Being a “nerd” should be a positive thing, not insulting.
The top definition for “nerd” on Urban Dictionary is “one whose IQ exceeds his weight.” The second one is “an individual persecuted for superior skills or intellect, most often by people who fear and envy him.” There are many others, but what I like about these definitions is that they focus more on the superior intellect rather that the social inadequacy. In all honesty, social inadequacy is actually a stereotype.
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The idea of a “nerd” is also been associated with a stereotype. Of course, I decided to torture myself by looking up the word “nerd” on google images. First of all, they all wore really thick and stereotypical glasses. Note that those kinds of glasses are now also worn by “hipsters”. Second of all, they all had bad teeth (something that isn’t caused by your personality) and button down shirts. More importantly, however, it wasn’t until the 20th picture that a girl was featured. The next 22 pictures afterwards were also all males. Seriously, most of the pictures were of boys. Another thing I noticed was that only 2 of the 50 pictures I looked at were people who weren’t white. Intelligence spans across genders and races. So does social awkwardness, if you insist on that association.
I decided to ask people I know what their definition of a “nerd” is. Many did associate it with social awkwardness. Many others didn’t. Nearly all of them, however, associate the word with intelligence or pursuing unique interests. Many of them even considered themselves to be a nerd and were not ashamed of it. Many others didn’t, because of the stigma attached to the word.
Look, I understand that this is a weird thing to care about, the definition of a word. The reason I care is because I’ve heard people being called a nerd in a derogatory way. I’ve seen it hurt someone and cause them to try to be someone they aren’t. The negative connotations that surround the word nerd suggest that because they have different traits, they need to work harder to go with the crowd. Don’t associate your personality traits with negative connotations. Be proud to be a nerd. After all, as Bill Gates says, “Be nice to nerds. Chances are, you’ll end up working for one.”
