Home » Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

Discussion Forum (Archived)

Please consider registering
Guest
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Min search length: 3 characters / Max search length: 84 characters
The forums are currently locked and only available for read only access
sp_TopicIcon
Nerd vs. Geek (full episode)
Guest
21
2010/12/27 - 3:04am

dino said:

I remember chatting to a friend of mine in the Beaverton, Oregon area on the phone. I met him online, and we became friends through a shared love of a web comic. The first time I called him on the phone to chat (because I was tired, and not in the mood for typing on the instant messenger), he dropped the word "spendy" on me. The neat thing about it is that I didn't even notice it, delete duplicates because the second he said it, I knew exactly what he was talking about. It's not until years later, when I heard this episode, that it struck me that nobody else in my life used that word except other Portalnders.

EDIT: I absolutely love "New-Coked". Again, it's one of those terms, that when you say it, everyone around you instantly gets it. Oopsgraded had me giggling my diet coke into my nasal passages on the subway. Not a comfortable moment.

RE: Geek vs Nerd. From my perspective, a geek is generally one who's more on the technical side, and sort of single-minded in her or his love for whatever the subject may be. A nerd, on the other hand, just likes learning new things, regardless of the venue. I'd say it's a generalist versus specialist sort of thing. Nerds love knowledge for its own sake; geeks love knowledge about their subject, and/or range of subjects (there's some kind of unholy trinity of Ren Faire, D&D, and a love for pictures of cats), to the exclusion of other knowledge. I'm only speaking from my own understanding of it.

PS I'm a nerd.


Well I Know That But For The Satisfaction I Saw The Posts!!!!

Guest
22
2010/12/31 - 10:46am

My grandmother and mother told me that the stuff in my eyes in the morning was called "sleepy seeds." It was planted there by the sandman to make sure I had a good sleep throughout the night. I remember watching from the window, scared of this little imp who would come to put dirt in my eyes while I dozed!

Ron Draney
721 Posts
(Offline)
23
2010/12/31 - 12:44pm

We can now look forward to a generation of kids terrified of the glowing green butterfly in the Lunesta ads, who comes in the night to sap the life force from people in their beds.

Guest
24
2010/12/31 - 5:36pm

Yeah, I'd bet that butterfly is a bit spooky to some young kids. And what about the "mixed message" of the main drug ad content showing happy people being helped by the med, while some narrator (in ominous undertones) explains all the risks and bad side effects? We adults know that's something the FDA and/or FTC forces the advertisers to do. But I gotta wonder what kinda message that sends to a young kid?

It's a whole nuther level from the "professional driver closed course" fine print that flashes on the bottom of the screen during car ads. Most people never see the disclaimer because the ad itself is so cleverly distracting. And when you DO see it, without a DVR to hit pause, there's no frikkin' way you have time to read all that fine print, which isn't even legible unless you have about a 60" screen.

Guest
25
2011/01/03 - 10:33am

I love the final admonition to "ask your doctor if X is right for you."

"Hi, Doc. I feel fine, but my TV says I need to ask you about these medications..."

Guest
26
2011/01/08 - 9:22am

EmmettRedd said:

I remember when I was about 6 that on several occasions my eyes would be glued shut upon awakening. My mother called it "matter" as she used a warm washcloth to open my eyes. This may be an extreme form of "sleepy dust".

We grew up calling them "sleepy seeds"

Guest
27
2011/01/14 - 5:31pm

Re place names for people and re word nerds, is Grant a Lexiconian? (Sorry this is late, I just listened to the podcast finally today.)

Guest
28
2011/03/11 - 2:16pm

Perhaps I heard incorrectly, but did yoou guys mention in this episode that you would put up a link to a list of toponyms? Many thanks for your excellent work!!

Guest
29
2011/08/19 - 7:50pm

Instead of "downgrade" (which has a firmly established different meaning), "oopsgrade" (which I find too cute), or "newcoked" (which surely dates the user), I suggest using the existing word "retrograde" which means moving backwards.

deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
30
2014/09/30 - 8:36pm

Heimhenge said
I've been an Arizonan since 1978, and first heard the term "Zonie" or "Zony" (not sure if there is an official spelling) used in a derogatory sense by Californians (are they "Fornies") for exactly that reason.

Never heard of Fornies, but only Californios and Californicators.

About 1972 or 1973, there was a tongue-in-cheek movement to build a tall fence along the Toledo Strip, because so many Ohio high school football heroes were attending college in Ann Arbor.  I was commuting from Ohio to Indiana at the time, and around the break table, as we were discussing the "issue" I pointed out that Michigan's beloved football coach. Bo Shembechler, come from Ohio State, but so did Indiana's favorite basketball coach, Bobby Knight.  I was quickly informed that "buckeye" was defined in the dictionary as a nut of no known use.

EmmettRedd
859 Posts
(Offline)
31
2014/10/02 - 8:00am

Windows 8 admitted to being newcoked Windows?

Guest
32
2014/10/30 - 10:45am

Growing up in Ohio, we always called the stuff in our eyes in the morning "sleep", but have also used eye booger on occasion (kids seem to prefer it). I just heard it referred to as "sleep crumbs" in the book The Boy Who Loved Words, which I really like and may adopt myself.

deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
33
2014/10/30 - 1:32pm

I just realized that, to me, wiping sleep from your eyes means getting rid of the stuff while it is a thick fluid, and if the stuff has solidified, it's shameful that you didn't attend to your toilet while going to the bathroom, and you don't need words for that which can never be talked about.  I, for one, would never admit to "crumbles" in my eyes.

Forum Timezone: UTC -7
Show Stats
Administrators:
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Moderators:
Grant Barrett
Top Posters:
Newest Members:
A Conversation with Dr Astein Osei
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 1
Topics: 3647
Posts: 18912

 

Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 618
Members: 1268
Moderators: 1
Admins: 2
Most Users Ever Online: 1147
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 95
Currently Browsing this Page:
2 Guest(s)

Recent posts