What a Geeky-Nerd You Are, Dork.

In case it wasn't clear, the nerdy board-gamer? That's me. I'm not afraid to call myself a nerd. Usually though, if I tell people that I'm interested in nerd culture, they either laugh at me behind their hands, or argue that I mean geek, not nerd. Well I mean nerd. So there. But since the whole purpose of this blog is to review board games for their nerdiness, let me see if I can bring you over to my side.

Okay, here's the thing: you realize that nerd and geek are both just insults for odd people, right? I do think that accurate definitions matter (I'm studying to be an editor, and word choice is a big deal to me) but I don't think these particular terms differ as much as we sometimes pretend. Geek, nerd: these are just terms for someone uncool. Yes, I know that nerd has more technological connotations, and geek can mean obsessive, but the differences are flexible. And for me, the term geek has become too cool lately. You can be a geek about things that everyone likes. You can be an ultimate Frisbee geek. Or a geek about Mad Men.

Well, my peeps are the ones that are pursuing what most people find strange. We are obsessing over things that may or may not hurt our social standing. We play tabletop and role-playing games which require us to use our imagination. We dress up as Klingons in broad daylight. We have proudly claimed this lack of coolness as a part of our identities. Considering all that, I don't thing we want the term we call ourselves to be cool. And, honestly, geek just doesn't quite do it for me. So I've chosen nerd. And since we're basically just stealing and proudly wearing the insults that were previously used against us, I think that is my prerogative. So there, dorks.