Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
"Jock" also can carry the connotation of "dumb, cares only about sports, good for nothing except sports". As a matter of fact, that is the connotation it often (maybe always?) carries.
Is it accurate? Maybe, maybe not. In fact, probably not. But it's the perception.
I don't really care, for the purposes of this discussion, about the definition. I care about the connotation. The connotation of both "nerd" and "jock" is negative.
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QFT. Perhaps too often, perception is truth.
In almost every mainstream application of the word "nerd" I can think of, it carries a negative connotation. Even when joined with another term - i.e. "band nerd" - it denotes a person with an (unhealthy) obsession or fixation.
The only positive use of "nerd" (Woodie Flowers' speech in 2010 notwithstanding) I can think of is the phrase "the people you call 'nerd' in high school, you'll call 'boss' when you're 40." Unfortunately, this phrase is often used by nerds in their own defense (which is kind of like saying, "will.i.am thinks we're cool!").