Word Play – Wonks, Geels, Nerds

I've been accumulating apps which allow me to play with the graphic presentation of text. Nerdy, in a wordy sort of way.

TypeDrawing created this image:

Symbolizer did these:

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And, while watching puppy, I have also been wasting time wondering about what distinguishes a wonk from a geek from a nerd. After voracious bouts of reading of truly inciteful writing on the subject as well as vacuous pontifications I have come up with some succinct essential defining traits of each. But in order to do so I had to discard a wonderfully simplified Venn diagram that has been floating around for a few years.

Wonk concerned with process

Geeks are concerned with ideals

Nerds are concerned with details

But when nerds are entered into the equation, don't we have to then also consider dorks? And if dorks are brought in then the distinction between dorks and dweebs have to be considered. And there is something still lacking. I suggest that including spazz in the mix may clarify and elucidate the real difference between the terms and the dimensions they measure.

Dorks, dweebs, and spazzes are all terms that denote subtraction of skill rather than an addition of skill.

Dorks Lacking social skills

Dweeb Lacking in understanding

Spazz Lacking in coordination

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Doofus confounds me. So I created this little graphic to help.

Bibliography

http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker82.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-199352,00.html Things are a little different here at the Isle of Wight College where Computing students are 'Proud to be Geek!'. Imagine a Venn diagram with sets for Intelligence, obsession and social ineptitude. A dork is obsessive and socially inept, and a dweeb is intelligent but socially inept. A nerd is a member of all three sets; the nerd is intelligent, obsessive and socially inept. However, a geek is intelligent and obsessive. I cannot say where rich uncle Bill fits but I expect he's Geek, just like me. Proud to be Geek! –Paul McKillop, Newport, Isle of Wight UK

wonks wimps and wusses