We've entered a very self-conscious period of our brief career -- 15 days online -- adolescence in the lifespan of a webpub. So, we were extremely disturbed when a recent visitor opined that our humble site has "a slight, 'geek' quality to it;)" (Note her improper punctuation.)
Of course, if she meant 'geek' in the 'dweeb' sense, then we take the strongest exception to her characterization. Or, as we might otherwise have put it
Geeky, indeed. Notice how we employ the lexicon and cadence of speech of a middle to upper-middle class American youth, with vulgarities stripped out to avoid offending the sensibilities of our gentle visitors. This shows that we're "with it.">Dude! She was, like, so out of line :-[] I mean, like... I don't know. It was, like, so random!
>>Brutal, dude.
But, you say, these guys are bogus -- total posers. To the contrary, could a poser say the following
>Dude, you missed the latest post-hereunder! Totally radical! They rule!>>Dude, I'm so bummed :-( What's the url?
Does that sound dweebish? Yeah, you wish.
CYAL8R
Now my copy of the World Book dictionary concurs with my own experience.
Geek, n. (US Slang) 1. a freak in a carnival troupe whose act consists of eating live animals. 2. Any freakish or perverted person; degenerate.
And my apologies; I may have ran her off with my suggestion to go read Dr. Suess.
Posted by: Harry | Sunday, December 19, 2004 at 01:07 AM
(from my own site, that is)
http://wayfareingstranger.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Harry | Sunday, December 19, 2004 at 01:09 AM
Geek is a compliment. I would take it and run . . .
Posted by: Anonymous | Monday, December 20, 2004 at 10:52 AM
Just so. "Geek, n. (US Slang) 1. a freak in a carnival troupe whose act consists of eating live animals...."
We are proudly, if slightly, geeky.
"Just a couple of centipedes for me. I'm watching my weight."
Posted by: Remainderman | Monday, December 20, 2004 at 07:15 PM
I would add that "geek" is a noun, and, therefore, as a general matter, cannot modify another noun; it needs a adjective to do that. So this site does not have a "'geek' quality to it," it has a "'geekish' quality to it."
Of course, this post proves her point.
Posted by: palinurus | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 at 07:21 AM
Palinurus, you are flatly wrong on two points.
First: your comment is a "comment" & does not count as "post" -- though, your several comments do count as commentary.
Second: I regularly feel squeamish, yet I have never seen nor heard a squeam (except from small children when they first see my face).
Posted by: Remainderman | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 at 02:40 PM