A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical, abstract, or relating to niche topics such as science fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Additionally, many so-called nerds are described as being shy, quirky, pedantic, and unattractive.
A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a video game or an entertainer. Collectively, the fans of a particular object or person constitute its fanbase or fandom. They may show their enthusiasm in a variety of ways, such as by promoting the object of their interest, being members of a related fan club, holding or participating in fan conventions or writing fan mail. They may also engage in creative activities such as creating fanzines, writing fan fiction, making memes or drawing fan art.
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.
Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon and/or give the render a characteristic paper-like texture. There are similar techniques that can make an image look like a sketch, an oil painting or an ink painting. The name comes from cels, clear sheets of acetate which were painted on for use in traditional 2D animation.
Triumph of the Nerds is a 1996 British/American television documentary, produced by John Gau Productions and Oregon Public Broadcasting for Channel 4 and PBS. It explores the development of the personal computer in the United States from World War II to 1995. It was first screened as three episodes between 14 and 28 April 1996 on Channel 4, and as a single programme on 16 December 1996 on PBS.
Curtis Armstrong is an American actor and singer best known for playing the role of Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds films, Herbert Viola on the TV series Moonlighting, Miles Dalby in the film Risky Business, and record producer Ahmet Ertegun in the film Ray as well as for playing the role of Metatron on the TV series Supernatural.
(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) is the debut studio album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on August 13, 1973. Several of the album's tracks remain among the band's most well-known: "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Free Bird", the last of which launched the band to national stardom.
A nerd is a person who is intellectually knowledgeable or bright, but socially inept.
Mark Ames is a Brooklyn-based American journalist. He was the editor of the biweekly the eXile in Moscow, from its founding in 1997 until its closure in 2008. Ames has also written for the New York Press, PandoDaily, The Nation, Playboy, The San Jose Mercury News, Alternet, Птюч Connection, GQ, and is the author of three books. He co-hosts the podcast Radio War Nerd along with John Dolan.
Brian Posehn is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995–1998). He is known for his roles as Jim Kuback on The WB's Mission Hill and Brian Spukowski on Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program. Posehn had a recurring role on The Big Bang Theory as geologist Bert Kibbler.
John Carroll Dolan is an American poet, author and essayist. He has been identified as the once-secret identity behind the pseudonym Gary Brecher, fictional author of the War Nerd column for the newspaper the eXile which has ceased publication. John Dolan writes as the War Nerd, but no longer "in full character" as Brecher, the two identities having merged.
In the United States and Canada, a jock is a stereotype of an athlete, or someone who is primarily interested in sports and sports culture, and does not take much interest in intellectual activity. It is generally applied mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct youth subculture. As a blanket term, jock can be considered synonymous with athlete. Jocks are usually presented as male practitioners of team sports such as American football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and ice hockey.
In Search of... is the debut studio album by American funk rock band N.E.R.D. The group originally released the album on August 6, 2001 in Europe, where Kelis' Wanderland—produced by The Neptunes, consisting of N.E.R.D members Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo—was better received. Similarly to Kelis' early work, the original version of In Search of... juxtaposes hip hop and rock influences and styles. The album is named after the TV series In Search of..., hosted by Leonard Nimoy.
Jeremy Suarez is an American actor, best known for his role as Jordan Thomkins on The Bernie Mac Show (2001–2006), and as the voice of Koda in Brother Bear (2003) and Brother Bear 2 (2006).
"White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both satirizes and celebrates nerd culture, as recited by the subject, who cannot "roll with the gangstas" because he is "just too white and nerdy". It includes many references to activities stereotypically associated with nerds and white people, such as collecting comic books and action figures, editing Wikipedia and playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". In the 21st century, it was reclaimed and used by many people, especially members of some fandoms, as a positive term.
The Angry Video Game Nerd is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd", a fictionalized version of himself who is a short-tempered and foul-mouthed gamer who delivers commentary on retro games of poor quality. While the series began with Rolfe simply playing games while delivering retrospective commentary, the show would eventually grow in scope to encompass sketches featuring guest characters, reviews of gaming consoles and peripherals, and short lectures about video game history and culture.
"Geek girl" is a 20th-century term, signifying a gendered subgenre within the modern geek subculture.
Daniel John Hardcastle, known online as Nerd³ or NerdCubed, is a British YouTuber, author and actor. Created in 2011, his YouTube channel primarily consists of video game-related content. As of July 2022, it has approximately 2.5 million subscribers and 1.3 billion video views. He is the author of The Sunday Times bestseller Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd.
Peter Leigh, more commonly known by the alias Nostalgia Nerd, is a British presenter, YouTuber, author and Twitch streamer, who documents and specialises in ageing technology and software. First appearing on YouTube in 2014, he routinely and enthusiastically explores forgotten computers and the technology surrounding them. He often specialises in historical documentaries on vintage computing, but also delves into technical explanations. Leigh also ventures into modern, mystery, explanation and more frivolous tech videos, with a humorous style and British wit.
