Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-usage><word-meaning>
Title: Is it good to call someone "Nerd"?
Question: My friends always use "nerd" to describe an intelligent person, but when I searched its meaning online, I found that it's not really a good word.  "A foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious."  Oxford Dictionaries  I've become so confused with this word. Is it an insult or a compliment?

Answers:
sents: text: Nowadays it can be good or bad.
text: In the past it was inherently bad, but it has undergone the phenomenon of reappropriation , which causes insults to become a "badge of honour" for the insulted group.
text: In my personal experience, nerd was an insult most (~ 90%) of the time until the mid-late 2000s, when the concept of a "nerd culture" became surprisingly popular.
text: Of course, nerd as " person who follows nerd culture " and nerd as " person who studies too much " do not always overlap.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/42528/J. Siebeneichler
score: 30
sents: text: If they are referring to an "intelligent" person like you say then they most probably mean: a person who is extremely interested in one subject, especially computers, and knows a lot of facts about it — Cambridge Dictionary Example, I'm a real grammar nerd.
text: So, no it is not in the bad or negative sense
text: but you still have to be careful with this word some people might find a bit offensive to be called a "nerd" especially when this word has a first definition that is kind of negative.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/43818/Arrowfar
score: 19
sents: text: I don't agree nerd is restricted to intelligent.
text: A nerd can use the n word to describe themselves but other people should not.
text: A nerd can say he is a nerd pack like me.
text: As a non nerd there are so many ways to express without using the n word.
text: He/
text: she is into computing.
text: He is a car racing enthusiast.
text: All she can talk about is medicine.
text: He is cryptography nerd from MIT that works for the NSA
text: is OK.
text: It clearly does not have the strict negative connotation of the other n word.
text: Just making a silly comparison.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/42757/paparazzo
score: 1
sents: text: In some language communities, "nerd" is a loaded word; for example, when used to describe a boy or man, nerd can carry connotations of being easy to push around and/or sexually frustrated.
text: In some language communities, it's basically considered inoffensive; but unless you want to risk offending the other person, I don't think this a good term.
text: And I think that, when speaking to men especially, it's safer to assume that the other person considers themselves "dominant" (not like a bully; more like, someone you don't f**k with), so best to choose language that doesn't convey a disconnect between how you're viewing the other person and how they view themselves.
text: This applies w/o much qualification when talking to women, too; if you're talking to a woman, for example, keep in mind that she may well be elected in as a parliamentary MP one day, or become the CEO of a major corporation, or end up owning a large and highly successful business, etc.
text: Such a woman may not appreciate being called a "nerd", I think.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/43857/goblin
score: 1
sents: text: A nerd is someone with a drive to study.
text: The driver can exist for any of a bunch of different reasons.
text: There are also different areas of focus.
text: Eventually, though, a nerd, in order to be a nerd, must have a certain "love of the subject".
text: And then there are shy nerds, who will cringe upon hearing the word, and less shy nerds, who will openly affirm, part of their identity, as a nerd.
text: For a reference and idea, please see the movie T.G.I.F by Katy Perry , which might be able to give you some ideas about why one would be, or want to be, or end up being, a nerd.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/33778/Jack Maddington
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Nowadays it can be good or bad. A nerd must have a certain love of a subject. However, nerd  was an insult most of the time until the mid-late 2000s, when the concept of a "nerd culture" became surprisingly popular. The insult of "nerd" has undergone the phenomenon of  reappropriation , which causes insults to become a "badge of honour" for the insulted group.
The term is ambiguous. In the past it was inherently bad, and could even mean "an easy to push around/sexually frustrated man". However, it has been reappropriated, so now it has become somewhat more popular. Now, a nerd is a studious person with love for a certain subject.