Re: Nerds, Dykes, Niggers, Dweebs, Fags, Bimbos, and Geeks
At 6:40 PM 7/26/96, Bill Frantz wrote:
At 9:09 AM 7/26/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote:
... I hate the term "nerd," as I hate the names "dweeb," "geek," "jerk," etc. Believe me, anyone who thinks being called a "nerd" is complimentary, or anyone who labels himself as a "geek," is probably one who would call himself a "nigger," or a "queer.")
[...]
People with pride in themselves and what they do can make their detractors eat their insults. We should make it clear that "nerd," "dweeb," "geek," "jerk," etc. are where the money is. We should turn them into terms of pride in what we are and what we do.
Maybe it's a generational thing (though Bill is as old as me, I think), but terms of insult are just that. The biggest users seem to be clueless journalists, like blonde bimbette Sue Hutchinson of the "S.J. Mercury News," who writes repeatedly of "nerdfests," and "geek conventions." (Hey, maybe womyn need to reclaim the terms "bimbo" and "airhead"?)
[..]
--Tim May
Isn't it a little strange that Tim was on the exact opposite side of this argument when I started a thread titled: "CypherPUNK considered harmful" ... in which I argued that we needed a better name for folks like us? Peter Trei trei@process.com [I'm off to the Security WG of the W3C in Redmond, so I won't see replies until Wednesday.]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I missed the original, but it appears that Peter Trei once claimed that Tim May wrote:
People with pride in themselves and what they do can make their detractors eat their insults. We should make it clear that "nerd," "dweeb," "geek," "jerk," etc. are where the money is. We should turn them into terms of pride in what we are and what we do.
Maybe it's a generational thing (though Bill is as old as me, I think), but terms of insult are just that. The biggest users seem to be clueless journalists, like blonde bimbette Sue Hutchinson of the "S.J. Mercury News," who writes repeatedly of "nerdfests," and "geek conventions." (Hey, maybe womyn need to reclaim the terms "bimbo" and "airhead"?)
Actually, I know Sue, and I believe she has. She's got a rather healthy sense of humor, thank you, "for a womyn." I don't think it's a generational thing, because lord (tm) knows that there are members of my generation with sticks firmly up their asses, too. - -rich nerd - -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCM$/GSS d- s++:- a- C++ UU+ P++ L+ E- W+++ N++ o+ K++ w !O M+ V-- PS++ PE Y++ PGP++ t 5 X R- tv- b+ DI++ D- G+ e++* h r* y+ - -----END GEEK CODE BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQBVAwUBMfldt5NcNyVVy0jxAQEXMgIAh+jiyGCmcJUm2Adzq46I51/QhBeMAejn yXQER/sdniq2esC6jH/07eHScp5m1WUy9m4UW+MSR92PKryghb1b0w== =gXd/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (2)
-
Peter Trei -
Rich Graves