Nowadays a geek is someone who is into computers/gaming, but they're considered quirky and comparatively cooler than a nerd. A nerd is someone who lives in their mum's basement and is very socially awkward. 'Geek' carries a socially acceptable quirkiness, 'nerd' does not. Of course there are crossovers, neither definition is rigid.

The meaning has evolved. Just like the word 'gay','hacker' now means something different to what it used to mean, largely as a result of the media, yes.

As I said it's all about labels, interpretations - and might I add, gross generalisations...

So basically, we don't know.

Having been labled a geek by different members on this site.
Instead of a nerd.

I guess being a 6 foot 7 inch tattooed former jock. Tattooed and gorilla looking.
Kicked me outa nerd status.

My interpretation:

A nerd is smart, at an above average level, and is enthusiastic about learning to the point that some folks might find it insufferable... not just computers, but math, science, writing, anything really. I'd say it's a pejorative term.

A geek doesn't have to be smart, just relatively fanatical about something. Might be a "band geek", "sci-fi geek", etc. It can also be used as an insult.

I think you can be either or both. And I think that while both started as pejorative terms, they've been reappropriated by the community of "geeks" and "nerds" as a badge of honor, to an extent.

You can rate your geekiness at the (slightly old-fashioned) test linked to in my signature!

I come out at about 12%. So I am definitely not a geek.

I skimmed through it and got 9%. It does seem to conflate, heavily, being into computing and being into sci-fi. I am very much into the former, but not so much the latter. Likewise, I have a colleague who is hugely into sci-fi but knows next to nothing about computers.

Yeah well, I think I failed the test... as I got 2.02952% - Poser

But I did snort while laughing about band camp...

And their sponsor seems to have left them, given the image is broken/not displaying...

I'd say I was less geeky than I thought at 35.23985%, but then I consider that test considerably age biased to favor (as in result in higher percentage scores) people born after 1970.

OK... original topic.. the difference between a geek and a nerd.

GEEK - A geek is merely quirky considering the term originated for various types of circus side show freaks, probably at first those that bit the heads off of live animals, or appeared to do so. Obviously that didn't require a lot of intelligence but over time the category expanded to where the field included some "brainy" people. Geeks are largely created by Nature. They were essentially born wired a bit differently from "the norm".

NERD - Nerds are simply people driven by intelligence who are voracious about learning. What makes them nerdy is largely the bias and condescension of "normal" people who have some emotional need to "level the playing field" (or even marginalize below them) over what they imagine is an advantage forever closed and unavailable to them no matter how hard they might work at it. This is very often mistaken but that is a whole other topic. Nerds are more shaped by Nurture though some cases are particularly driven by the Nature of their genes for physical attributes. To be blunt if one is smart and tall and good-looking, much of the social awkwardness aspect is minimized, whereas those born to be short and soon overweight, suffer more ridicule and ostracism, which is why "nerdiness" has a greater pejorative connotation than "geekiness". There is, however, considerable overlap between the two types which is where the blurriness originates. Not all Nerds are Geeks, and not all Geeks are Nerds, but some are both.

I would tend to think along these lines -- a nerd is, in some way, a bit less physically fit or attractve (see Revenge of the Nerds) but a geek could also be into fitness, for example.
I know i'd be flattered to be referred to as either, despite their pop-culture misunderstandings.
To be called a hacker would be false praise for me.

Two jobs ago my boss introduced me (at a meeting with a visiting engineer) as "our official propeller head".

Clothes that haven't actually worn out yet.


Edit: broken grammar glued together.

Kinda describes me from time to time

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/up.../biker-bar.jpg