nerd, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

nerd n.

also nurd

[? euph. for turd n. or infl. by ‘Mortimer Snerd’ a dummy used by US ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (1903–78), or f. line in If I Ran a Zoo (1950) by the children’s author Dr Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel, 1904–91): ‘And then, just to show them, / I’ll sail to Ka-Troo / And Bring Back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!’]

1. (orig. US) an unpleasant, insignificant or dull person.

1951		Newsweek 8 Oct. 28: Nerds and Scurves: In Detroit, someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd, or in a less severe case, a scurve.
1960		G. Swarthout Where the Boys Are 202: Any guy who chickens out on an easy, part-time operation like this is a nurd. In fact, he’s a green nurd.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 91: Slats is in no way like Ronnie Blish, that nerd.
1975		G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 53: nurd ‘unpleasant person’.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 290: Maybe that’s how come I let that nurd in the pickup truck tempt me.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 50: An adoring baldy or four-eyes – some wally, wimp, nerd or narna – might be sleeping on the chair.
1998		Source Oct. 186: Even against a neighborhood nerd.
2000		Guardian G2 5 Jan. 5: As the last few days have proved, the Nerds have got their revenge: the 21st century belongs to them.
2003		P. Cornwell Blow Fly (2004) 17: Despite her being the class nerd, he is attracted to her.
2012		C. Black ‘Topless Vampire Bitches’ in C. Rhatigan and N. Bird (eds) Pulp Ink 2 [ebook] A real horror nerd, Jimmy. God knows how many shitty blood-and-tits films I’d had to sit through at his place.

2. (campus/teen, also nerdbomber) anyone outside a peer group and who thus fails to fit in with ‘the gang’, esp. a studious individual who eschews drink, drugs and similar teen pleasures.

1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 161: Nerd / alt. Gnurd, Knerd, Knurd, Nurd, Nyrd / A person who always does the wrong thing. An obnoxious person. A person without much social or academic ability. An ugly person, male. A small or insignifcant person. A person who does well academically.
1972		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 4: nerd [...] a person who is out of it, a loser, a jerk.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 8: If you weren’t a surfie chick, you were a nobody. You were a nurd.
1987		‘Joe Bob Briggs’ Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 114: I’ve been a nerd ever since third grade, and this is my moon-faced family, and they have a collective IQ of thirty-seven.
1990		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 6: nerdbomber – pest, annoying person.
1999		Guardian Guide 22–28 May 15: If you’re not great in sports, or extremely good looking, you’d better be a nerd.
2005		L. Theroux Call of the Weird (2006) 184: He described his style as ‘ghetto nerd’. ‘I’m cool in the hood, cool in the boardroom, too,’ he said.
2010		K. Richards Life 82: The real blues purists were [...] nerds with glasses deciding what’s really blues and what ain’t.
2015		S. King Finders Keepers (2016) 78: A nerd with a bad haircut and a danduff problem.
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 13: I’m also interested in politics. nerd alert.

In derivatives

nerdy (adj.) (also nurdy)(orig. US)

1. used of a person or any form of speech or behaviour that is judged to be socially unacceptable by the speaker(s).

1960		Yale Record 11 Oct. Of all the schleps [...] you are the nurdiest [OED].
1979		New Yorker 19 Feb. 92: The nurdier clients want foil.
1986		C. Hiaasen Tourist Season (1987) 234: Leon was such a nerdy name.
1998		C. Fleming High Concept 82: Don was your typical overweight, nerdy kid in high school.
2004		P. Howard Teenage Dirtbag Years 23: [...] glasses, real nerdy head on him.
2005		L. Redhead Rubdown [ebook] [I play] clarinet. It’s a bit nerdy isn’t it. Saxophone’s a lot sexier.
2008		G. Pelecanos Way Home (2009) 272: He had never been a fan of biking [...] he thought it was nerdy and lame.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] ‘I was kind of nerdy too,’ I admitted.
2011		G. Knight Hood Rat 145: His brother seemed such a nerdy boy with serious plans.
2016		Guardian 13 Aug. 🌐 Yes, it’s a young person’s game, this one – and that’s coming from someone who considers herself fairly politically nerdy.

2. obsessive; the image is of a train-spotter.

1979		Newsweek 13 Aug. 3: From the crudely candid Roseanne Rosannadana to the nerdy Lisa Loopner.
1999		Indep. on Sun. Rev. 21 Feb. 6: My rather nerdy enthusiasm for the interface between real and fictional topographies.
2000		Observer mag. 9 Jan. 36: The term ‘hobby’ has such nerdy connotations.

nerdiness (n.)

the quality of being a nerd.

1969		Harvard Crimson 22 Apr. n.p.: Davies [...] has what superficially appears an easy task as Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.; he must consistently be a pompous nurd. However, English nurdiness is not the easiest of qualities to maintain, particularly for a Welshman [etc.].
1998		J. Drescher Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man 244: For many, ‘nerdiness’ is the antithesis of masculinity.
2007		M. Berman Street-smart Advertising 168: There’s nerdiness to the campaign. That’s Noel. There’s an extreme nerdiness about him. We’re both kind of geeks in our own way.

In compounds

nerd magnet (n.)

(US campus) a young woman or girl who attracts boring, unattractive men.

1986

Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 7: nerd magnet – girl who seems to attract nerds.

nerd pack (n.)

(US) a plastic, sectioned liner for the breast pocket that keeps pens from soiling the cloth.

1997–2000

Da Bomb 🌐 20: Nerd pack: Pocket protector for pens and pencils.