when did “nerd” become a misused word in the English language? people (ie. the Internet) are always complaining about anyone with glasses, green hair, or an affinity for some commonplace superhero calling themselves “nerds,” and i’ve read several (really only one in recent memory, but go with the hyperbole here) articles mentioning “nerd-chic” in relation to women (and sometimes men) who look like suave Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters models with cool glasses. so does “nerd’ just mean (now) that you have glasses that may or may not be prescription-based? wouldn’t “nerd-chic” more accurately refer to sometime who is intellectually prolific and happens to dress “fashionably”? though i suppose fashion has commandeered the entity that is “nerd,” so i don’t know how one can dress “fashionably” in this context without referencing the nerd inherently, and thus, the argument, “nerd-fashion or fashionable-nerd?” is circuitous.

in other news, there are really cool ceiling fans in the coffee shop i am currently in that operate on what appears to be a self-propelling pulley system, and the fans themselves only have two blades a piece, which makes them look like rotating oars. is this observation nerdy or fashionable?