Geek

We’re all familiar with this word—chances are if you’ve never been called a geek, you’ve at least called someone else a geek. It’s even fast becoming common practice to say, after admitting a particular kind of knowledge, “Yep, I just geeked myself”. Attitudes about the term vary; some people proudly proclaim their geekdom, almost as if hoping to reach otaku status, while others hide or deny it. Some people claim it only applies to those within certain disciplines—science, math, or engineering spring to mind. But what does it actually mean? And where did it come from?

In early 1995, The X-Files ushered the original meaning of the term geek—a carnival or circus perfomer known for wild acts—back into the zeitgeist, though only to a certain crowd, I’ll admit. But the more recent meaning, “an unfashionable or socially inept person…[with adjective] a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest,” seems to be an extension of the word’s etymology.

And that would be…? Well, according to my trusty OED, “geek” is from an English dialect word, geck, or “fool”. This, in turn, is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch gek, meaning “mad, silly”.