Female geeks?

[JP Dogberry]

Taken.

[fuzzyoctopus]

So much for equality in geekdom.

[EUOL]

There will never be equality as long of one of the sides is male.

Anyway, I think it's interesting that the word 'geek' has been adopted with pride by the community it was probably originally applied to pejoratively.  Sites like "Think Geek" and the like are examples, as are the infamous "Geek Code Blocks."

As a side note, geekdom has come to be mostly adopted by the computer community.  Therefore, I think the word is coming to associate less with people like myself--fantasy authors--and more with people like my roommate, Earl, who is a computer programmer.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

several things occur to me about your definition, JP.

It's fine for a personal usage definition

However, any definition that goes longer than a few sentences is probably too restrictive to actually be used by more than a couple people.

Also, that definition ignores entirely what most of the population means when they use it. Like the term with pride as much as we like, but most of the world, I think, outside of web site culture, uses the term "geek" perjoratively still.


And EUOL, same thing happened with "Yankees" and "Mormons." Kinda cool, huh?

[EUOL]

Not to mention the Forsaken....

[JP Dogberry]

Actually, the definition was the opposite. It wasn't long to restrict the definition, but to broaden it, and define all the different usages and connotations of the word. That said, maybe "definition" isn't the best term for what I wrote. Maybe it was more of an explanation thing. That is, it needed to be that long to include both EUOL and Earl, without including someone who plays sport and obsesses about it, as well as playing the occasional game of Magic: The Gathering.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I think that we can all agree that obsessing about the definition of the word "geek" makes you a geek.