Same with "uncanny". That word couldn't really have been invented / popularized / changed by Freud because wrote in German, not English. The German word "unheimlich" may have been given a specific meaning by him, but "uncanny" was already on the rise when Freud was born (according to Google's Ngram viewer) and thus must have just been a somewhat trendy word that Freud's translators selected.
Fun fact - "robot" (from Slavic robota, labour) was actually invented by Karel's brother Josef. Karel himself originally wanted to call it "labor".
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When variations of "yeah" and "yay" wouldn't work, my mind got stuck on "yolo" for the cry of joy by J. Swift. I'm a bit disappointed he did not invent that.
Grok!? The rest of these seem relatively common, being things I'd reasonably read, hear, or use myself at least a few times a year, but never in my life have I encountered the word grok.
Even in cases where the word is now used differently the two uses should still be etymologically related, right? This would be the case for e.g. Thackeray's "snob", but Swift's word is unrelated to the definition given (and is still used in the sense of "yokel" anyway) and it is unknown whether "nerd" actually derives from Dr. Seuss's original nonsense word.
And the following might be a nitpick, but "utopia" involves more than just government.
Somebody needs to ask songwriter Richard Sherman whether it was him or his brother Robert who came up with "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" while he's still around. He's 95.
"A person who is intellectual but generally introverted."
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intellectual
"Endowed with intellect; having a keen sense of understanding; having the capacity for higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or cleverness"
The Wiktionary definition seems to conform most to how it's used today, at least in my experience. The Cambridge definition includes physical unattractiveness as part of it which I've never considered a necessary aspect of being a nerd.
I mean, the whole point of a dictionary is to elevate a discussion away from personal anecdotes about our own experiences of how we've seen words used.
For what it's worth, though, the Cambridge entry gives an alternative definition of "a person who is extremely interested in one subject, especially computers, and knows a lot of facts about it" - so if you're using the word "nerd" in a certain way, then that dictionary would agree that it doesn't imply unattractiveness.
Then the dictionaries wouldn't seem to be doing a very good job at achieving that goal if the definitions across several different ones can't seem to nail down definitive characteristics for a word. If anything, that encourages discussions about how and why usage varies from context to context. I think the connotation of a word goes far beyond the level of personal anecdote, and I think quite a few of people would agree that the definition of 'nerd' in Wiktionary is most prevalent. I do think the definition provided in the quiz is not the best.
The definitions from reliable dictionaries that I can find (Cambridge, Merriam-Webster, Britannica, Collins) all agree that one of the mainstream uses of "nerd" is to indicate someone who's obsessed with something, especially computers (or words to that effect). So, to that extent, they're doing a good job.
Yes, there is disagreement about whether "nerd" can also mean unstylish vs. unattractive vs. unpopular, etc. And I agree that this could be an interesting discussion to have. But not in the context of a quiz that is meant to be dealing in verifiable facts.
Particularly as *none* of the definitions from those reliable dictionaries include an interpretation of "nerd" that implies "intelligent". The closest is from Cambridge, which includes an interpretation in which a nerd *might* be devoted to "intellectual pursuits" or, equally, might instead be devoted to academic or technical pursuits. i.e. it'd be consistent to call someone a nerd if they were stupid but loved computers.
Fair 'nuff. I agree that the clue is lacking and the percentage correct seems awfully low for such a common word. I think it'd be higher with any of the definitions you've brought up or the Wiktionary definition.
In other cases (snob) the word already existed but was given a new meaning.
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When variations of "yeah" and "yay" wouldn't work, my mind got stuck on "yolo" for the cry of joy by J. Swift. I'm a bit disappointed he did not invent that.
And the following might be a nitpick, but "utopia" involves more than just government.
"A person who is intellectual but generally introverted."
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intellectual
"Endowed with intellect; having a keen sense of understanding; having the capacity for higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or cleverness"
For what it's worth, though, the Cambridge entry gives an alternative definition of "a person who is extremely interested in one subject, especially computers, and knows a lot of facts about it" - so if you're using the word "nerd" in a certain way, then that dictionary would agree that it doesn't imply unattractiveness.
Yes, there is disagreement about whether "nerd" can also mean unstylish vs. unattractive vs. unpopular, etc. And I agree that this could be an interesting discussion to have. But not in the context of a quiz that is meant to be dealing in verifiable facts.
Particularly as *none* of the definitions from those reliable dictionaries include an interpretation of "nerd" that implies "intelligent". The closest is from Cambridge, which includes an interpretation in which a nerd *might* be devoted to "intellectual pursuits" or, equally, might instead be devoted to academic or technical pursuits. i.e. it'd be consistent to call someone a nerd if they were stupid but loved computers.