Chiharu
What's the difference freak / geek / nerd ? I'd like to know what's the difference freak /geek / nerd as noun.

I suppose all these words mean someone who is interested in something so much.

How do you use them?

Do you use them frequently?

Which word has negative / positive nuance?

Thank you.

Nov 12, 2018 2:28 PM
Answers · 6
1
Nerd - Very similar to the geek, except with a greater focus on high intelligence. Usually more concerned with science and computers. Geek - Someone who is generally socially awkward and identifies with a particular subculture, usually involving science fiction, anime, video games, fantasy, and other non-mainstream genres. Generally associated with above-average intelligence. Freak - Strongly negative connotation, unsettlingly strange, possibly dangerous or mentally ill. Can also mean the person is extremely sexual, good in bed, and possibly engages in abnormal sexual practices. When used in this way, it tends to have a positive connotation.
November 12, 2018
Just to add to the two answers above...this is very, very difficult to define. It would be nice when learning a language if you could say "this word means this" and everyone agrees all the time, but in fact that's not really how language works. These words are, like a lot of other examples, changing and developing meaning. They all started as terms of abuse, so they all had negative meanings, but gradually over time the people who were abused by these terms have started to use them to describe themselves and are proud to call themselves 'geek', 'nerd' or 'freak' - I think this has probably happened a bit more with the first two than with 'freak', but it's really hard to say with certainty. If you want to know more about this, there's an interesting (but unfortunately quite long) article on the bbc website from a few years ago "Are 'geek' and 'nerd' now positive terms?" https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20325517
November 12, 2018
Freak= someone who is freakish/abnormal/weird, someone who has 3 arms or into weird stuff would be a freak Geek= smart but may also be heavily into things such as sci-fi comics, Star Wars etc Nerd= someone who'se really smart. Despite their meanings no one really uses these terms after primary school and are almost exclusively used as school yard taunts.
November 12, 2018
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