THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407250041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
At his 30th high school reunion, looking back, President Clinton said, ``A lot of people probably would have said I was a nerd.''
Nerd, as commonly applied, is a condescending, contemptuous term, bred often by the user's envy or insecurity.
It is found, sometimes, among cliques, perceiving those outside their circle as less well-blessed or born.
It is a word that ought to die of its own venom. As should its most recent successors, dweeb and dork.
As well as nerd's predecessors, drip and twerp. All, as frequently used, are shallow, mean-minded, and, at best, thoughtless.
Of a sort of which the Bible advises, judge not, lest ye be judged.
In high school, Bill Clinton didn't fit the stereotype. In Latin and math clubs, he also played in the school band, had a role in the play ``Arsenic and Old Lace,'' enjoyed his friends and, his classmates recall, was considerate of others.
Still, when asked to describe himself, the president said many might have seen him as a nerd.
(Can you think of another president, save Jimmy Carter, who'd have engaged in such a reverie?)
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines nerd:
1. a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person. 2. an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit (a computer nerd).
It wriggled into life between 1960-65.
Among those in our national past who might have been deemed nerd-ish was John James Audubon, who set out to paint in full color and life size every last bird in America.
Then there were two brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who repaired bicycles and thought man could fly.
Don't you know those two would have been a hit at chitchat in social gatherings!
There are others. God knows where we would be without nerds.
Nerds are seen as bores, though, as you well know, the fellow sitting next to you may seem a lump, but, talk to him, and he unfolds, a rare flower.
I have yet to meet a bore.
The nerd dares to differ from the herd. Sometimes, from shyness or handicap or cast of mind or character, the so-called nerds feel they can't help themselves and be or do otherwise than they are.
In my time in high school, drip and twerp targeted those of us inept socially. Lord knows, I felt nerdy. And am often so classed today because of columns, especially those on politics. And, indeed, nerd is the least of the epithets, which is fair. Readers deserve a shot, full bore.
Today's condemnations - nerd, dweeb, dork - have a sharper edge than did drip. Their sentence on individuals is harsher.
I flinch on hearing someone pronounce another as being a dweeb.
Looking at the judge, I see, at least momentarily, a first-class dweeb. Given time he (or she) may work out of that condition.
There is no such thing as a nerd. by CNB