I quote from Robertson Davies's "Fifth Business", but in white so that those of a delicate disposition can keep their lunch down:

"His first decline was from conjurer to Wild Man, essentially a geek."

"Geek?" said Boy.

"That is what carnival people call them. They are not an advertised attraction, but word that a geek is in a back tent is passed around quietly, and money is taken without any sale of tickets. Otherwise the Humane Societies make themselves a nuisance. The geek is represented as somebody who simply has to have raw flesh, and especially blood. After the spieler has lectured terrifyingly on the psychology and physiology of the geek, the geek is given a live chicken; he growls and rolls his eyes, then he gnaws through its neck until the head is off, and he drinks the spouting blood. Not a nice life, and very hard on the teeth, but if it is the only way to keep yourself in morphia, you'd rather geek than have the horrors. But geeking costs money; you need a live chicken every time, and even the oldest toughest birds cost something. Before Willard got too sick even to geek, he was geeking with worms and gartersnakes when I could catch them for him...."

So how did we get from here to computer expert? Or is there something some of our members are not telling us?

Bingley

how did we get from here to computer expert?

I gather it's a simple matter of architecting

My theory of the shift in targets of the pejorative word "geek" is that some mediocre students secretly envious of bright but socially inadept classmates applied the term to them as a put-down.

Here you go, Precious:


High Definition Dictionary

geek - a crazy person; a gross person; a smart person

The word "geek" is a fairly recent Americanism, derived from the Middle Low German "geck," which was supposed to a sound crazy people made.

Ironically, one of the geekiest guys in my high school, bless him, had the last name of Goeckel, and everyone called him "the Geck."
But that's beside the point.

"Geck" became "gek" in Dutch, meaning madman or fool. It found its way into American slang as "geek," a guy who does really gross and disgusting things in the side show at the carnival. The classic act for the carnival geek was to bite the head off of a chicken.

Eventually the word was used to refer to anyone who was gross or undesirable, be it through lack of hygiene, lack of social skills, or some other repulsiveness.

Recently it's come to imply a certain bookishness or braininess as well, in keeping with the American anti-intellectual tradition. Opinions vary as to whether the braininess causes the repulsiveness or vice versa.

Very recently -- in the 90's -- the repulsive connotation has receded and the brainy factor has come to the fore. One often hears the word "geek" used in ironic and even complimentary fashion to connote knowledgeability and expertise.

Does this signal the reversal of the aforementioned anti-intellectual strain in American culture?

from http://hdd.rox.com/?entry=geek

Very recently -- in the 90's -- the repulsive connotation has receded and the brainy factor has come to the fore.

hence Nerd?
And did you see the PBS program "Revenge of the Nerds?"
The SOED says "an insignificant or foolish person, a person who is boringly conventional or studious."
So how'd it come to mean "smart, clever in electronic medium, and rich-beyond-your-wildest-dreams?"

Are you lurking Bill Gates?

And while we're at it... from whence "square"? whence?!?!?

from whence "square"?

My slang dictionary just notes that square has been in use as a term for a nerd since the early 1900s, but here's a WAG: from the phrase square peg in a round hole, meaning a person who does not fit in.

Square - won't fit in the the round hole? hmm, lots of interesting connotations come to mind and I haven't the patience just now to delve into white-out

And "square" as in "a square shooter" meaning of commendable integrity, has been polluted by the self-styled sophisiicates.

I suspect that it was simply a term for an upright, pillar of the community type person used as a pejorative term by those who took some pride in *not being upright, pillar of the community type people.

"Square" was, indeed, a word used to indicate correctness, uprightness, and the like, as in "square deal" and "square meal" inter alia. Still has that meaning in most circles.

"Square" also means "conforming to norms, or standards", since it originally meant that it could be checked by means of the mason's or carpenter's square, as an ashlar or joist would be checked. It ought to mean that, since the Latin for "square" is "norma".

BTW, a little historical note. In my youth, ca. 1950's, there were two styles of dress for the boys. The one was the "greaser" look, like Fonzie on "Happy Days", with the long greased hair, the shirt/coat collar turned up in back and the favorite color combo of pink and black -- these guys were called "drapes." The other, opposite style, was the "squares", who had short hair, wore ties, button-down Oxford shirts, khakis, and sports coats. This was, believe it or not, in the days before anyone other than farmers or mechanics wore jeans.