AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

[Raydeus]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

So you're saying women flee at the sight of you?

Nah, sadly otakus are just guys very interested in something. Doesn't really have the same mystic properties as a geek or a nerd.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------

PS > And my anime knowledge is still too superficial to even be considered an otaku. Hence the wannabe part.

[Feba]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

Feba's guide to getting a geek:

1- "I have a vagina and I am not afraid to use it."
2- "I do."

[cidbahamut]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

Nah, sadly otakus are just guys very interested in something. Doesn't really have the same mystic properties as a geek or a nerd.

Actually that's pretty much the same definition as a geek or nerd.

[Aeni]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

Actually that's pretty much the same definition as a geek or nerd.

Actually, otaku is the Japanese equivalent for "geek", both in usage and in the way it is expressed by those associated with the term. The only reason why non-Japanese people want to make a differentiation is that they are greatly affected by the stigma surrounding the term "geek".

Now realize that there are two definitions of the term geek and that we shouldn't confuse ourselves here. The context I am using this in subscribes to the definition of someone who is profoundly interested in a particular subject. So you'll hear terms like, "movie geek", "computer geek" or even "guitar geek". This is very much the core of what an otaku is (anime otaku, guitar otaku, etc) The internet meme of the term otaku is used with reference to manga/anime but that is not how the Japanese people themselves use that term.

The other term, which is the official pronouncement, means "eccentric" or "strange". Back in the 70s and 80s, anyone who was obsessed with a particular hobby or interest was labeled as a geek because the general populace could not understand such behavior and they thought it was an eccentricity or strangeness. A lot of people would get this confused with the gamut of the various forms of autism and other related diagnosed psychological malady. As time passed, more and more people became educated in the differences and that now when children have particular obsessions with a hobby or activity (and that is not associated with autism or any of those other psychological diagnosis) it is no longer viewed as a foreign behavior and the connotations associated with the word geek have ceased to carry a negative stigma and even in some certain social circles this notion is publicly celebrated.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

[Mhurron]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

I prefer systems aficionado.

[cidbahamut]

Re: AMD's guide for girls to getting a geek

Actually, otaku is the Japanese equivalent for "geek", both in usage and in the way it is expressed by those associated with the term. The only reason why non-Japanese people want to make a differentiation is that they are greatly affected by the stigma surrounding the term "geek".

Now realize that there are two definitions of the term geek and that we shouldn't confuse ourselves here. The context I am using this in subscribes to the definition of someone who is profoundly interested in a particular subject. So you'll hear terms like, "movie geek", "computer geek" or even "guitar geek". This is very much the core of what an otaku is (anime otaku, guitar otaku, etc) The internet meme of the term otaku is used with reference to manga/anime but that is not how the Japanese people themselves use that term.

I was less concerned about what "otaku" meant and more concerned that "guys very interested in something" was being presented as something other than a textbook definition of what a nerd is. What you've described isn't a geek, but a nerd. That's only if we're going by dictionary definitions though, as society has morphed both terms over the years to the point where they are effectively synonyms for each other.