Recently, I was surfing the net looking for lols, and came across a personal ad on Craigslist. The ad was not in and of itself hilarious, but one thing struck me. The writer described herself as “nerdy,” and as an example of her nerdiness, explained that she loved to watch Desperate Housewives.
My god, people, have we allowed “nerdy” to be defined down so greatly that watching Desperate Housewives – a top 20 Neilsen primetime soap opera with no actual nerd content per se – qualifies as “nerdy” now? That is just wrong. The nerdular act cannot be allowed to be so mainstream. At this rate, in five years’ time anything that is not going out, getting wasted and watching strippers and/or football will count as “nerdy.” The word will lose all meaning! This cannot be borne!
Hence, I have prepared a handy guide for people to define their own nerdiness, based on a number of nerdistic passions. Quantification is the key, you see.
BATMAN
Not Nerdy: Going to see The Dark Knight in theatres
Slightly Nerdy: Dressing up as the Joker for Halloween (Heath Ledger version)
Fairly Nerdy: Buying Batman comics other than Year One or The Dark Knight Returns
Nerdy: Dressing up as the Joker for Halloween (Cesar Romero version)
Really Nerdy: Writing Batman fan fiction
Dangerously Nerdy: Writing Batman fan fiction where he has sex with Alfred
STAR WARS
Not Nerdy: Seeing the movies
Slightly Nerdy: Owning a toy lightsaber
Fairly Nerdy: Learning to play the Cantina Song on your musical instrument of choice
Nerdy: Knowing in which “expanded universe” novel Admiral Ackbar dies
Really Nerdy: Membership in a Stormtrooper fan brigade
Dangerously Nerdy: Defending the idea of Jar Jar Binks
HARRY POTTER
Not Nerdy: You read the books
Slightly Nerdy: You liked all of the books
Fairly Nerdy: You own a wand
Nerdy: You read fanfic that “fixes Rowling’s mistakes”
Really Nerdy: You are a fan of “wizard rock”
Dangerously Nerdy: You have an alternate “Hogwarts persona”
MAGIC: THE GATHERING
Not Nerdy: “They still make that? I played it when I was in high school for a bit, but never got into it”
Slightly Nerdy: “Yeah, it was fun, but I couldn’t keep up with all the expansions so I sold my cards”
Fairly Nerdy: “Do you mind if I use a proxy for Nicol Bolas? I mean, he’s forty bucks”
Nerdy: “You haven’t really played this game until you play draft; it’s how the game is meant to be played”
Really Nerdy: “Okay, if we’re all supposed to be planeswalkers, how come there are planeswalker cards? Am I Ajani? I don’t feel like a lion-man”
Dangerously Nerdy: “I’ve tested this deck against all comers and now all I need is to win free airfare and I’m on my way to the World Championships in Tokyo”
H.P. LOVECRAFT
Not Nerdy: Recognizing the name “Cthulhu”
Slightly Nerdy: Knowing the proper pronunciation of “Cthulhu” (EDIT: k’too-loo, for those wondering)
Fairly Nerdy: Owning a Cthulhu plushie
Nerdy: Running a Call of Cthulhu campaign
Really Nerdy: Organizing a chapter of the Campus Crusade For Cthulhu
Dangerously Nerdy: Actually reading any of Lovecraft’s stories
NERD TELEVISION
Not Nerdy: Lost
Slightly Nerdy: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Fairly Nerdy: Battlestar Galactica
Nerdy: Stargate: Atlantis
Really Nerdy: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Dangerously Nerdy: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
STAR TREK
Not Nerdy: The Next Generation
Slightly Nerdy: Deep Space Nine
Fairly Nerdy: the one where Picard rides a dune buggy
Nerdy: any of the novels
Really Nerdy: owning a phaser
Dangerously Nerdy: speaking fluent Klingon
COMPUTER USE
Not Nerdy: Macs
Slightly Nerdy: Knowing how to use Windows rather than just knowing “how to do emails”
Fairly Nerdy: Knowing the actual reasons Windows sucks
Nerdy: Anything to do with Linux
Really Nerdy: Getting all of the coding jokes in XKCD
Dangerously Nerdy: “I’m bringing BeOS back!”
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I liked BeOS. 🙁
Sorry, man. But Lost is really fucking nerdy. One doesn’t even need to go on chat boards and discuss mysteries or discuss symbolisms to be a nerdy Lost fan. To still be watching is to have a very healthy nerdy hobby. My OC-Friends-watching friends might not want to see it that way, but any conversation they have concerning Lost (or simply the amount of insider shit you must know about it to get inside the thing) makes the dialogue sound like a raving Star Trek proton engine discussion.
And I’d only not consider Housewives or Grey’s Anatomy to be nerdy if one’s viewing is pretty casual — but the overall culture of insider esoteric knowledge in both works (and amounts of outside media on it as well) makes it pretty freagin geeky…
What are you if have never watched any Batman, Harry Potter, Star Trek and don’t know what Lovecraf and Magic the Gathering are ?
-Moron
-Foreign
-Antisocial
By your standards, I’m barely a nerd. I only got to “Very Nerdy” on Star Trek, and only then because of a really sweet deal on a TOS phaser. Which is BLATANTLY untrue. I’m a massive nerd (point one in my favour: I prefer the term “geek”, thankyouverymuch).
Anyhoo, I thought I’d add a Pro Wrestling scale:
Not Nerdy: Aware of Stone Cold Steve Austin and/or The Rock
Slighty Nerdy: Have watched PPVs other than WrestleMania.
Fairly Nerdy: Have BOUGHT PPVs other than WrestleMania.
Nerdy: Owning “Best of” DVDs, especially if they are unofficial ones.
Very Nerdy: “Poochie” makes you think of Kevin Nash, not The Simpsons.
Dangerously Nerdy: Have a t-shirt signed by a puroresu star. Which I *totallY* don’t. Ahem.
Also, how does one pronounce “Cthulu”. I’ve always went with “Cuh-thoo-loo”, but I could be wrong – and probably am.
Admiral Akbar is dead?
Say it ain’t so, MGK!
How about comics in general?
Not Nerdy: Buying Watchmen, V for Vendetta or the majority of most made-into-movie graphic novels.
Slightly Nerdy: Buying Watchmen 10+ years ago. Having a few graphic novels on your shelf.
Fairly Nerdy: Having several long boxes of comics, but nothing in particular order. A shelf or two of trades or graphic novels.
Nerdy: Long boxes with comics bagged and boarded and in some order. A couple of shelves dedicated to either trades/graphic novels.
Very Nerdy: Bagged, boarded and alphabetized comics. Several shelves of trades/graphic novels and even some books dedicated about comics (Superheroes & Philosophy).
Dangerously Nerdy: Every conversation has to be about comics or you can’t speak. You know over a dozen different comic companies. Comics are bagged, boarded, signed, even sealed in thick protective plastic and anyone who dares to touch them WILL DIE IN A FIRE! (away for said comics)
It strikes me as strange how I can go from Slightly Nerdy to Dangerously Nerdy just in the Lovecraft section alone. Though I have thought of buying a Cthulhu plushie AND starting a Call campaign, I just haven’t done it yet.
What’s worse is the television section. I haven’t seen an episodes of Stargate: Atlantis since the first season, but since I’ve seen it I counted it. Then, BAM, Brisco County Jr and I’m suddenly Dangerously Nerdy. (FYI to Bruce Campbell fans: My Name is Bruce is finally coming out on DVD Feb 10).
Personally I’d have put “Watches Doctor Who instead” as Dangerously Nerdy for Star Trek. Though Doctor Who could have it’s own category now.
Well, I’m only into ‘dangerously nerdy’ in one spot; I love Brisco County Jr. I’d also suggest that Red Dwarf be added to that list somewhere, just because.
I would’ve thought DS9 was less nerdy than ST:TNG.
For comics, dangerously nerdy should be “ever accused someone working in comics of raping something in comics.”
Heh. It amuses me that everything you say is ‘slightly nerdy’ I would describe as ‘hella nerdy’. Your social circle is clearly far nerdier than mine. And my friends work in comics!
I’d disagree to a point. It’s not so much the things that you’re a fan of, but how you’re a fan of them. Yes, owning a set of storm trooper armor and being a member of the 501st (Guilty!) certainly makes you a geeky person, with an incredible level of devotion. But a nerd is essentially someone with few social skills, and an intense level of interest in any given thing. This person could very well be a nerd if she doesn’t go out at all and knows everything there is to know about Desperate Housewives. That might not necessarily be the case here. I, however, won’t argue about levels of nerdiness when it comes to things like this.
Arrested Development
Not Nerdy: Saw it a couple of times on TV,
Slightly Nerdy: Watched it on YouTube after it was canceled
Fairly Nerdy: Bought all three seasons on DVD
Nerdy: You have several GIF’s on your computer from your favorite scenes
Really Nerdy: You find yourself quoting the show even though no one around you has ever heard of it
Dangerously Nerdy: Writing threatening letters to Michael Cera about what could happen to him if he doesn’t sign on for the Arrested Development film.
Correction to “Dangerously Nerdy: Defending the idea of Jar Jar Binks”
no true Star Wars nerd would defend the idea of Jar Jar Binks so
Dangerously Nerdy: Attacking George Lucas while dressed as Luke Skywalker and shouting that Han shot first.
Glad to know I’m “very” on comics, but since the scale is mostly quantity and organization, it should probably be revised. Going off MGK’s lists, though, I’m only “very” on TV (and, let’s face it, DHS-AB was an online thing).
Bryan: It’s kind of funny that they made him responsible for the empire in Episode II. I’m not defending Jar-Jar, just that he was thrown under a bus in his second movie.
I LOL’ed at the wizard rock and H.P. Lovecraft-“Dangerously Nerdy”. Classic post.
And yeah, does anyone here know how to pronounce Cthulhu? (Better question: will anyone here admit to it?) I hear it as Ss-Tool-Hu, or something along those lines. Ss-Hool-Tu?
Heh, The Color Out of Space remains one of my all-time favorite stories.
I’m sorry, but any discussion of nerdiness that does not include RPGs is no discussion at all.
Of course, you can pretty much ommit the Not Nerdy and Slightly Nerdy categories.
>SmR and Bringthenoise
Any true Lovecraft nerd knows the human mouth cannot properly pronounce Dread Cthulhu’s true name. Just remember to slap a Dead, Dread, or Great in front and you’ll be fine.
K-thuul-uu. Sorta. It helps if you scream it out in terror, followed by a death rattle.
Speaking of fun craigslist personals – http://calgary.en.craigslist.ca/w4m/1017153581.html
What if you love Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, but not Stargate: Atlantis? WHAT THEN?
Dangerously Nerdy: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Ouch. You wound me sir.
Also, reverse your first two entries in the computer one.
Virginity-resettingly Nerdy: Going to 4chan regularly.
It doesn’t matter if you finished a torrid bout of sexual intercourse with a delightfully delicious date of whatever gender only twenty seconds before you opened up any of the boards, you just grew a hymen. I don’t care if you’re a guy, you have one now.
Agreed, we need an RPG category. How about something along the lines of:
Not Nerdy: My friends made me play D&D one night in college. I was a half-orc barbarian named Kludge.
Slightly Nerdy: Refusing to acknowledge D&D versions past 2.0
Fairly Nerdy: On the last night of our d20 modern campaign we all dressed as our characters.
Nerdy: We always dress as our characters, and our bard recaps the last session in song.
Really Nerdy: If you touch my dice, my mini or my handbook I will use my replica to bash in your face.
Dangerously Nerdy: We’re all still playing the same characters we began fifteen years ago, since they ascended to godhood and then reincarnated as younger versions of themselves.
nerdgirl
@nerdgirl: That is too good, it needs a crappier version;
Not Nerdy: Played Wedgie the D&D Nerd
Slightly Nerdy: Played D&D
Fairly Nerdy: Played Vampire: The Masquerade
Nerdy: Played Shadowrun
Really Nerdy: Played Nobilis
Dangerously Nerdy: Played FATAL
What if I like Wizard Rock, but have never read or liked anything else Harry Potter reality?
I MUST KNOW: Was it a trap?
No. Ackbar died of old age.
I agree with the guy who said to reverse the first two computer items. Windows isn’t even a little nerdy, even beyond just doing emails. Macs are Unix. Real Unix, not that fake Linux garbage that all the kids are on about these days.
I’ve always referred to myself as a TV geek, but I’ll take nerd. In your list, I qualify as Slightly Nerdy, Fairly Nerdy, and Really Nerdy, though given the fact that I have written fic in a number of tv fandoms, I suspect I actually fall into the Dangerously Nerdy category.
RobotKeaton: NERRRRRRRD!
Are you implying there are people who DON’T like Brisco County Jr?
My submission for a Doctor Who scale:
Not Nerdy: Enjoys the new series.
Slighty Nerdy: Enjoys the old series.
Fairly Nerdy: Owns most of the old series episodes on DVD.
Nerdy: Owns a Sonic Screwdriver replica
Very Nerdy: Owns a Tom Baker scarf.
Dangerously Nerdy: Owns a rare 16 mm print of one of the lost Patrick Troughton episodes, which you are holding hostage from the BBC until such time as they fire Steven Moffat and place you in charge of the new series, allowing you to make your fan-fiction – where everything involving the 8th Doctor is erased from history and Shada is returned to it’s rightful place in the timeline as a Fourth Doctor adventure – True Canon.
These standards are interesting. Like television: I think Lost is retarded and saw most of early Buffy, but then I leap straight to Brisco County, Jr. (or Psych, lately). In terms of Harry Potter, I leapfrog from having loved the novels to being seriously interested in writing a dissertation considering them as the most-perfect execution of the hero mythology of the past five hundred years.
In Star Wars, I leap straight from “saw the movies” to a newer category, which is “sought out the limited DVD theatrical release of Empire Strikes Back and got the slipcard signed by Irvin Kershner.”
Then again, I’ve always thought I’m more in some ways geeky than slightly nerdy, but I’ve also thought it has more to do with interactions than with enthusiasms.
Concerning the (slight) Cthulhu digression: I’ve always thought of the “Cth” as a sorta diphthong, and pronounced it much the same way as one would pronounce the “Hm” in Hmong. It’s a little difficult to explain if only because English has very few (if any) of those sorts of sounds.
I was worried I might not reach the hallowed levels of “nerdy” until I reached the Lovecraft section. Thank Nyarlothep!
Ia!
Here’s a LARP scale (I had to add another level of nerdiness for this one).
Not Nerdy: Having seen the movie “Role Models”
Slighty Nerdy: Having seen previews or the actual documentary “Darkon”
Fairly Nerdy: Knowing and interacting with people who admit to playing Darkon (or another Larp)
Nerdy: Attending and participating within a larp on a regular basis.
Very Nerdy: Not only being able to make your own award-winning costume and custom armor, but also argue its legality when a marshal questions it.
Seriously Nerdy: Knowing the In-character and Out-of-character names of every noble member of every chapter of the SCA within 3 states of your place of residence by heart
Dangerously Nerdy: Have actually looked into the building of (or are in the process of building) semi-permanent forts or ships on land for the use of fighting within them during a regular larp.
An interesting phenomena: One’s sense of superiority over others who share your interests increases in proportion to one’s nerdiness.
e.g. The Cesar Romero Joker is going to start some shit with the Hedger Joker if they bump into each other at the Halloween party.
The Cesar Romero joker will be more fun, but Heath will probably get the chicks.
Also, I own the collected works of H.P. Loveraft, and have repeatedly used Lovecraft and/or zombies in actual class presentations at library school.
What does that make me?
Wait, are you saying they do still make Magic: the Gathering? I stopped collecting after… 1995 or so.
Bruce Campbell is a golden god!
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I AM A TV NERD GHOD!!!
Either that or I scored Yahtzee. I can’t figure out which.
Oh wait. I don’t do the Stargates. Can I substitute owning all of Farscape and Bab5 on DVD? (as well as the rest of the list, that is)
Oh and there’s been fanfic. Much fanfic.
Not much sweat, though.
>>MAGIC: THE GATHERING
>>Really Nerdy: “Okay, if we’re all supposed to be planeswalkers, how come there are planeswalker cards? Am I Ajani? I don’t feel like a lion-man”
The planeswalker cards are other planeswalkers you’ve enlisted to help you. That’s why they have loyalty counters that go up whenever you make them do something they like to do (“Hey, you’re pretty cool. Let me stick around a bit.”), and go down whenever they do something moderatly useful (“OK, now we’re even.”) or get hit by your opponent’s spells and creatures (“Oww. Screw you, you didn’t say these guys would shoot back. I’m out of here.”)
>>Dangerously Nerdy: “I’ve tested this deck against all comers and now all I need is to win free airfare and I’m on my way to the World Championships in Tokyo”
Does qualifying for Nationals on grinders and ending up a hair away from making the Canadian National Team count?
BTW, in order to seal the deal on my nerdiness, I have to say that I sold all my M:TG cards in order to afford to play World of Warcraft collectable miniatures…
“The Cesar Romero joker will be more fun, but Heath will probably get the chicks.”
Nah. All the dudes, who will all subsequently wish they knew how to quit you.
Oh well. Apparently I’m not nerdy.
I’m going to be painting myself blue and wearing a corset and a dress I made myself for a dark fantasy LARP at a convention. And then the next day I’m running a superhero LARP that I wrote.
Nerdiness is one of those things you have to call where you see it. Lady in that post is probably not a nerd, but you cannot quantify nerdiness.
@Illuyankas:
That’s not dangerously nerdy. That’s just dangerous, period.
World of Warcraft:
Not Nerdy: You’ve played WoW
Slightly Nerdy: You’re level 80!
Fairly Nerdy: You raid with your guild and have a couple arena teams.
Nerdy: You routinely make excuses so that your real life schedule doesn’t interfere with your raid or arena schedule.
Really Nerdy: Gladiator/Server First Boss Kills
Dangerously Nerdy: Grand Marshal/High Warlord on a high-pop server with no honor cap and lots of Malyasian farmers, extra credit for non-melee.
If you dressed up as movie Scarecrow for Halloween is that more or less nerdy than dressing as Ledger-Joker?
Wait, am I going to be forced to defend Jar Jar Binks to defend my dangerously nerdy cred?
Also the MGK scale
Not Nerdy: Read his Harry Potter summary
Slightly Nerdy: You know of Rex the Wonder Dog
Fairly Nerdy: Regular Reader
Really Nerdy: You’ve attempted to get DC to let him write the Legion
Dangerously Nerdy: You’ve been directly responsible for at least one post on his blog
thok, I am horribly offended that I am not somewhere on that scale! please correct this henceforth.
Flapjacks, with respect to MGK’s blog, you are radioactively nerdy. I’ve heard MGK has even registered you with Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
“In terms of Harry Potter, I leapfrog from having loved the novels to being seriously interested in writing a dissertation considering them as the most-perfect execution of the hero mythology of the past five hundred years.”
Will, I just died a little inside… Why? The last book alone- read MGK’s version, it’s more entertaining, less obvious, and better written. :-p
Harry Potter is certainly entertaining, and I enjoyed the books past the first two (the first book felt like Rowling was having so much fun describing the new world she forgot it actually was supposed to have a plot so she tacked a weak one on at the end), but Rowling, IMO, is the most over-hyped writer of all time.
Going by the standards here:
BATMAN
Not Nerdy
STAR WARS
Defending the idea of Jar Jar Binks(I’ve tried)
HARRY POTTER
Not Nerdy: You read the books
MAGIC: THE GATHERING(other card games dangerously)
Nerdy: “You haven’t really played this game until you play draft; it’s how the game is meant to be played”
H.P. LOVECRAFT
Fairly Nerdy: Owning a Cthulhu plushie
NERD TELEVISION
Really Nerdy: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
STAR TREK
Nerdy: any of the novels
COMPUTER USE
Fairly Nerdy: Knowing the actual reasons Windows sucks
As I type this, I am looking over at the DVD shelf and my roommate’s box set of Brisco County Jr. Past the martini glass filled with dice.
ENH ENH ENH NERD ALERT
I dunno, in the Harry Potter section I don’t even rate. I’ve never read any of the books. Seen the movies, but that’s it.
“Starman” Matt Morrison: I’ve got to criticize your Dangerously Nerdy pick. In MGK’s versions the Dangerously Nerdy category is attainable. It would be damn near impossible to even own a clip of as yet undiscovered Troughton episode. It’s got to be something more tangible. Like you own autographs of all ten Doctors.
[…] this super scientific Geek Social Aptitude Test. In a similar vein, MGK usefully classifies various phyla of nerdom by […]
[…] [Snark] Toward a definition of nerditude Link: Christopher Bird […]
@Andrew W: There isn’t an ‘Arrest Me For The Safety Of Others Nerdy’ category.
I’m feeling depressingly unnerdy by these standards, so I’m giving myself extra cross-nerd credit for crocheting my own Cthulhu plushies.
“Destiny’s Way”
I R Nerdy. ^_^
Is there any way to stop those weird square-brackets-heavy comments which are basically just telling you someone’s linked to this post? I mean, I assume you don’t want to stop them linking to you – but for some reason I find those things really annoying.
Especially the one in an earlier thread that said “comments are now closed”. It’s like they didn’t even bother to look at the thing.
I am sorely tempted to turn this into a HelloQuizzy test…would you mind if I ripped you off if I gave you attribution, MGK?
I don’t see why not – although adding some of the categories listed in comments is probably a good idea.
Aaaaaaand…forwarded to two dozen of my friends. 😀
FAN!TASTIC!
I thought you’d need to be fairly nerdy to be bothered by Jar Jar Binks in the first place.
“I thought you’d need to be fairly nerdy to be bothered by Jar Jar Binks in the first place.”
Nah, you only need to be human over the age of 10. 😉
These are quite awesome, though because of the use of categories I would be tempted to change the word from “nerdy” to “geeky”. The way I’ve seen the terms used is that nerd tends to refer more to the academic side of things whereas geek refers to an in-depth knowledge of a topic. Thus those guys who shoved you into a locker in high school who know every stat of every pro football player and so on are actually geeks. Then again, there is the original definition of a geek as the guy in a circus who bites the heads off of chickens… *shrugs*
Nope, even dangerously nerdy Star Wars fans like me hate Jar Jar Binks. In fact we all hate that weird kook pooped out of George Lucas’s mind. We want to strangle him with his own tongue…or freeze him in carbonite…personally i prefer the latter.
[…] Mightygodking.com » Post Topic » NEEEEEEEEEERDS "Recently, I was surfing the net looking for lols, and came across a personal ad on Craigslist. The ad was not in and of itself hilarious, but one thing struck me. The writer described herself as “nerdy,” and as an example of her nerdiness, explained that she loved to watch Desperate Housewives. […]
@eeyore: Look no further!
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/07/30/cool-stuff-george-lucas-frozen-in-carbonite/
[…] pretty proud of my nerdiness, although maybe I should question how nerdy I actually am??? Based on this post: Recently, I was surfing the net looking for lols, and came across a personal ad on Craigslist. The […]
Ackbar dies? Man, that just ruined my day.
Done.
Nerdy
Nerdcore Risen
I’m not sure where one lands on the nerdiness scale for reading the footnotes in annotated editions of Lovecraft’s stories, but, regarding the pronunciation of Cthulhu, a 1934 letter from Lovecraft observed:
‘…the word is supposed to represent a fumbling human attempt to catch the phonetics of an absolutely non-human word. The name of the hellish entity was invented by beings whose vocal organs were not like man’s, hence it has no relation to the human speech equipment. The syllables were determined by a physiological equipment wholly unlike ours, hence could never be uttered perfectly by human throats…. The actual sound–as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it–may be taken as something like Khlûl’-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, hence the h represents the guttural thickness’. The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories edited by S. T. Joshi, Penguin 1999, 395 (empahsis in original).
Not Nerdy: Macs = Macs are nerd in disguise and those are the worst one.
hahaha… loved reading this!
according to this i’m fairly nerdy. but if you consider the fact i had to google h.p. lovecraft to remind myself who he is, you might call me just slightly nerdy… or maybe stoned-nerd.
I feel underwhelmingly geeky right now. I think I should score a couple extra points from owning an original D&D box set through 4th edition, have argued the legitamacy in favor of the Book of Erotic Fantasy as an under-developed section of role-playing fantasy and discussed at length over Spelljammers existing in 4th edition without the underlying Crystal Sphere system of the Prime Material Plane is a blasphemy.
Oh, and there should be categories for anime and other MMOs. Kingdom of Loathing for the win!
No love for Desperate Housewives? I mean, Captain Malcom Reynolds is (or was? I dunno) on Housewives. And he obviously was on Firefly, which was done by the fount of all good geeky things in the world, Joss Whedon. So Housewives has a Joss Baconity score of two!
Hmmm… I wonder, do I get extra nerd-points for owning the god-awful X-Men/Star Trek crossover novel?
Manga:
Not Nerdy – Knowing what a Super Saiyan is
Slightly Nerdy – Reading Rurouni Kenshin and Hellsing
Fairly Nerdy – Having a subscription to Shonen Jump and/or Shoujo Beat
Nerdy – Claiming Samurai Deeper Kyo is NOT just a rip-off of RuroKen, and being able to bring up more than one point in its defense
Really Nerdy – Writing yaoi/yuri fanfiction when neither is portrayed in the series itself
Dangerously Nerdy – Posting a WMG theory on TV Tropes that Shoujo Kakumei Utena is either an alternate universe retelling of a Green Lantern origin story or a Black Mercy hallucination (I need help)
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I agree with the guy who said to reverse the first two computer items. Windows isn’t even a little nerdy, even beyond just doing emails. Macs are Unix. Real Unix, not that fake Linux garbage that all the kids are on about these days.
Linux > Mac
Linux cheaper than Mac.
Linux is safer than a Mac.
Linux can’t play any games, Mac can play Blizzard games.
Legend of the Five Rings:
Not Nerdy: Kurosawa did that, right?
Slightly Nerdy: I’ve heard of that. It’s like Magic, right?
Fairly Nerdy: I am loyal to the Mantis Clan!
Nerdy: I aggressively moderate the online Mantis forums.
Really Nerdy: …for grammar and spelling!
Dangerously Nerdy: When expansions release, I do a brief write-up on every card and rate it on a scale of one to ten.
@Chris Russell:
Beyond-Hope Nerdy: Hearing that title and immediately thinking of Miyamoto Musashi. And then remembering the naming gag from Pokemon by association and actually finding it sort of clever.
Comic Books:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care about how much books sell.
Movies:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care about how much money movies make.
Professional Wrestling:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care about how much money wrestling promotions are making.
TV:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care about TV ratings.
MMA:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care how much money MMA promotions are making.
Any Hobby Ever:
Dangerously Nerdy: You care about how commercially successful objects within the hobby are.
Ahem. Had to get that off my chest.
The difference between being ‘Obsessed’ and being ‘Nerdy’ have become confused. ‘Nerd’ is a culture that encapsulates a large amount of activities and obsessions. Some inculsions are undeniable such as RPGs, Graphic Novels/Comics, SciFi, High Fantasy etc some are not. Mainstream television is not. Knowing all the facts about desperate housewives makes you no more or less a nerd than knowing all the facts about a sports team. This metaphor does break down in that if you go to a Con dressed as a Dangerous House Wives character you are nerdy whilst if you go to a ball game dressed in a sports uniform you are just a dedicated fan, but the point is that there is a divide. Being a member of a culture like this is decided on one thing. If you are accepted by other members of the culture as being part of the culture then you are a part of the culture. If goths accept you as a goth then you are, if the aristocracy accepts you as an aristocrat then you are and if Nerds accept you as a nerd, then you are, but please people dont go claiming membership if you wont adhere to our club rules.
Okay, so what’s the difference between a nerd, a geek, and a freak? I have been called all three by supposedly normal people, but apparently I don’t truly qualify as a nerd.
I can’t believe it’s up to me to add this one:
Lord of the Rings
Not Nerdy: Saw the movies
Slightly Nerdy: Read the Books
Fairly Nerdy: Watched all the special features on the Extended Editions OR saw the Ralph Bakshi version.
Nerdy: Cosplayed
Really Nerdy: Read the Silmarillion OR the ROTK appendices.
Dangerously Nerdy: authored a fanfic OR fluent in elvish.
Monstrously Nerdy: authored a fanfic IN elvish.
[…] NEEEEEEEEEERDS “Not Nerdy: Lost. Slightly Nerdy: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Fairly Nerdy: Battlestar Galactica. Nerdy: Stargate: Atlantis. Really Nerdy: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Dangerously Nerdy: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” Tags: nerds, culture, startrek, starwars, geeks, television, movies, rankings […]
I was going to say what J. Carter Wood said up there but he totally beat me to it.
I’m not sure that reading Lovecraft is nerdier than playing the pen and paper RPG based on his work.
For the most part though, this is a fairly right-on, hilarious list.
[…] to rate your nerdiness? Posted on February 10, 2009 by bloginhood Check out Mightygodking.com for a quick way to check just how much of a geek you are. (I found the link on one of SF […]
Wow. Brisco really hurt my score. Or is it helped?
BATMAN: I very nearly rated Really Nerdy for a project I have in the works, even though it’s like… crossover AU and pretty OOC seeing as how the two things I’m working with only have a few things in common and I’m dissolving one continuity into the other and combining characters. Can I get “downloaded The Dark Knight while it was still in theaters becase Oh My God This Movie Is Long” points?
H.P. LOVECRAFT: Slightly Nerdy. I defend the “Kthu-loo” pronunciation. It’s like saying the last name Nguyen, only doing it right.
NERD TELEVISION: Why aren’t Firefly and the Sarah Connor Chronicles on this list?
STAR TREK: Re: TNG = Not Nerdy– what if it was a formative experience for me, and, as a tot I both recognized that Geordi was doing Reading Rainbow and that Professor Xavier from X-Men TAS was Jean-Luc Picard and Cyclops would be better if he was just Geordi like in the other show? What then? Plus, I have the X-Men/TNG crossover book “Planet X”… on my cell phone.
LotR: Fairly Nerdy, but I think I get extra points for watching the cartoon of The Hobbit.
My contributions:
MOVIES:
Not Nerdy: Fullscreen Standard DVD. Knowing who’s up for an Oscar this year.
Slightly Nerdy: Refusing to buy anything but Widescreen releases. Watching extras beyond the gag reel and deleted scenes. Knowing who should win an Oscar this year; having seen all the Oscar-nominated movies instead of just saying you have.
Fairly Nerdy: Only buying special edition DVD sets with the Extras discs. Knowing who will win an Oscar this year and why, despite others deserving it, because of a knowledge of Hollywood politics. Knowing that “Hollywood politics” is a redundant statement.
Nerdy: Buying multiple copies of the same movie(s) because it’s been released again with more extras!/Waiting in line at 3AM to get the extra-special first-edition release of a movie with all the extras. Watching the whole movie with the commentary on. Movie posters, including ones you got from the movie theater itself.
Really Nerdy: Buying multiple copies of the same movie so that you have one to watch and one to keep pristine. Having the actual DVD/BR signed. Requiring multiple pieces of furniture to hold your movie collection. Movie memorabilia other than standard-issue mass-market/movie theater posters and action figures; for example, the “frosted glass” version of The Dark Knight poster, animation cels, pieces of film, music boxes.
Dangerously Nerdy: Having a home theater set up with a projector instead of a TV. Restoring old films yourself. Any movie props or costumes that you own (bonus points if you wear them). Any tie-ins that you own given to the crew of a movie (specific t-shirts, hats, pins, etc.) even though you weren’t involved in the movie. Contacting anybody involved with a film either to protest, recommend, or congratulate over something and/or ask for pointers in getting into the business. Blatant fanmail to a non-actor/director. Working in and/or hoping to work in the movies in a non-glamorous job (ie not writer, producer, director, actor).
ANY FANDOM:
Dangerously Nerdy Over 9000: Creating a meme, especially one that’s not fucking annoying.
ANY FANDOM:
Dangerously Nerdy Sue: After creating a fan-based work, you either cosplay as your original design or original character, or successfully sell merchandise around your fanart, fan-comic, etc. Bonus points if the work is actually good. Mega bonus points if people recognize you.
Stratospherically Nerdy Sue: Dressing as someone else’s fan-made character/design, especially if recognized or going to meet the creator (like at a convention).
NERDY CARTOONS
Not Nerdy: “New” cartoons: Familiarity with/casually watching Batman the Brave & the Bold, X-Men Evolution, Spectacular Spider Man, etc. These cartoons being your main or only motivation for being a fan of a title, despite success in other media (comics, movies, old cartoons, radio shows.) Preferring the cartoons to this other media.
Slightly Nerdy: Actually getting all the in-jokes in the “new” cartoons (including cameos, shoutouts, characters who don’t normally get much air time) & watching them faithfully. Comparing and constrasting new and old interpretations of characters and plot within the shows. Fanfiction that only references “new” cartoon continuity.
Fairly Nerdy: Keeping track of voice actors in the cartoons and making jokes about their work in other media (bonus points for other non-cartoon nerd media). Knowing and recognizing shoutouts to and quotes from old cartoons outside of the standard collective pop culture consciousness (the Hulk, Spider-Man, at this point Wolverine); ie “BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRDMAN!” the episode of X-Men Evo where a guitar riff from the X-Men TAS theme was played in the opening, any jokes in the director or cast commentary because nerds watch that. Knowing and singing along with theme songs/theme music. Bonus points for air guitar.
Nerdy: Knowing about “Iron Man” before the live action movie came out soley from the ’60s or ’90s cartoons. Remembering/being nostalgic for “old cartoons” not including Disney (Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Birdman before “Attorney at Law”). Excommunicating seasons or arcs of a cartoon. (I’m looking at you Goliath Chronicles.) Having deliberately watched cartoon spinoffs from non-cartoon nerdy media (Star Trek TAS). Fanfiction referencing alternate/older continuities of the same title. Downloading or buying a cartoon before it’s available in the country you’re in, even if it’s in another language, and even if you don’t know that language (not including anime– this is more “I can’t believe the Latin American release is a year ahead of us”).
Really Nerdy: Being nostalgic despite being too young to remember those old cartoons. Owning on any format other than Laserdisc/VHS/Betamax cartoons you hold near and dear to you, including on your hard drive. Setting your DVR or waking up at odd times to watch shows when they are rerun if they aren’t available on DVD. Bonus points if they are really obscure or hard-to-get cartoons to begin with (Namor the Submariner, Thor, the Herculoids, Frazetta’s “Fire and Ice”.) Petitioning for a show to be remastered and released on DVD/BR. Any AMVs, whether you’re watching them or making them. Being a part of a group to swap files/DVDs and discuss the show, online or physically.
Dangerously Nerdy: Owning costumes related to the cartoons. Making costumes related to the cartoons. Obsessively collecting all the toys that go along with the cartoons, even if they cost a million retard dollars and you keep them in pristine condition and you have the complete set. Any convention involvement specifically related to a cartoon. Mondo nerd points if this is a convention specifically for that cartoon. Any “Rocky Horror Picture Show” style synchronized audience participation, especially IN PUBLIC.
ALSO!
Sesame St.
Not Nerdy: New Sesame St.
Slightly Nerdy: New Sesame St. pre-Elmo centrism.
Fairly Nerdy: Old Sesame St.
Nerdy: Any non-Elmo centric Sesame St. movies.
Very Nerdy: Sesame St. Live.
Dangerously Nerdy: Sesame Place.
I’m not sorry.
While I agree on the overall premise, that nerdiness is being too widely misapplied as a personality trait, your examples are way off. Most of what you put here applies to geeks, not nerds. Nerdiness implies intelligence, whereas geekniess simply implies a somewhat inordinate obsession with something. Thus, you could be a Desperate Housewives geek, but that would in no way make you a nerd. Likewise you could be a Batman geek, but also be dumb as a box of rocks, in which case, no nerdiness. The only example that fits the bill is the last one, and even that you botched, since I know way more nerds that use Macs than do Windows. Windows is the ubiquitous OS that everyone and their grandma uses. Most people know how to do more than email with it. I’d still put it under “Knowing the actual reasons Windows sucks”, but it certainly is more nerdy than someone knowing how to do more than email with Windows. The rest of your examples are all geeky things. Here’s a quick way to tell if it is a geek-trait or a nerd-trait, do you have to have a degree in it? No? Then it’s geek-related. Pop-culture is the realm of the geek. Academia is the realm of the nerd. The two do blend, and often nerds are geek and geeks are nerds, but the semantic differences are there.
[…] Here’s a little fluff to start your week. As obsessive fans of a television show, we naturally may be worried about whether we’ve taken it too far. So take the handy test to find out. Tags: Mighty God King […]
I agree that there needs to be a Doctor Who one… except I’d change the “Not Nerdy” category to “has never heard of Doctor Who, unless they’re British”. Sadly, nobody in the US has ever heard of it. It’s depressing.
[…] in a more engaging manner by others. I'm not a fan of Lovecraft's writing style myself (YMMV), so I found mightygodking's remark on him amusing. […]