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,
spod, weenie,
geek code, alpha geek.
