A question to the linguistically minded among you

[karohemd]

While watching Carnivále, the term geek came up at various times, describing one of the acts (Henry Scudder was one)

I looked it up and M-W online had the following definition:
"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"
and of course the one we all know.
(The etymology is given as "probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck" but the German definition of Geck I know is a fop, a man in fancy clothes, overdrawn manners and often not very bright.)

I wonder how the first definition evolved into the second. Any ideas?

Comments

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Geek was thought to be orginally used as a term for a sideshow act in which live animals were eaten. Source, verbal: vyvyan

Later Geek has been used as a similar insult to "freak", but it seems to have been more directed at the pocket-protector, thick glasses, computer and science bookworm types.

It's become it's current form in the same way "nigga" and "queer" have. It's a reclaimed word and is now used as a badge of pride by the persecuted group.

Fucking good thing too in my opinion.

[sherbetsaucers.livejournal.com]

How it evolved is somethign I have often wondered.

Anyway, I'm off to bite the head off a live chicken, or play with my protractor, one of the two.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

The COED's full entry is maybe more revealing. They agree the origin is uncertain, but the link to geck seems plausible. Geck is attested in English since the 16th century, including in Shakespeare, and meant "A fool, simpleton; one who is befooled or derided, a dupe". Some quotes for it are:

1515 BARCLAY Egloges I. (1570) Aiijb, He is a foole, a sotte, and a geke also Which choseth..the worst [way] and most of ieoperdie.
1601 SHAKES. Twel. N. V. i. 351 Why haue you suffer'd me to be imprison'd..And made the most notorious gecke and gull That ere inuention plaid on?
1611 SHAKES. Cymb. V. iv. 67 To become the geeke [sic] and scorne o' th' others vilany.
1859 GEO. ELIOT A. Bede 83 If she's tackled to a geck as everybody's laughing at.

(The 1611 example from Cymbeline is probably a transmission error rather than an early example of the geek form of the word.)

Geek, as a slang term with the meaning "A person, a fellow, esp. one who is regarded as foolish, offensive, worthless, etc." is first attested in the 19th century, originally being Northern English dialect and then being adopted primarily in the US. The meaning and form seem close enough to geck that I find the etymology quite convincing. Some examples:

1876 F. K. ROBINSON Gloss. Words Whitby, Gawk, Geek, Gowk or Gowky, a fool; a person uncultivated; a dupe.
1908 H. C. FISHER in San Francisco Examiner 28 Apr. 13 (comic strip) A geek who spends his spare time making Czar removers was slammed into the city cooler.
1951 N. ALGREN Chicago (2001) v. 59 The jungle hiders come softly forth: geeks and gargoyles, old blown winos, sour stewbums and grinning ginsoaks.
1971 H. S. THOMPSON Let. 1 June in Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 393 The Aspen zip code is 81611. These hamwit geeks go crazy when they get something addressed to two different postal areas.

Derived from this meaning seems to be the more familiar one in current usage: "Freq. depreciative. An overly diligent, unsociable student; any unsociable person obsessively devoted to a particular pursuit (usually specified in a preceding attrib. noun). Cf. NERD n." - the earliest example of this meaning is given as 1957:

1957 J. KEROUAC Let. 1 Oct. in Sel. Lett. 1957-69 (1999) 66 Unbelievable number of events almost impossible to remember, including..Brooklyn College wanted me to lecture to eager students and big geek questions to answer.
1980 E. A. FOLB Runnin' down some Lines 239 Geek, studious person. 1991 S. J. GOULD Bully for Brontosaurus vi. 96 Any kid with a passionate interest in science was a wonk, a square, a dweeb, a doofus, or a geek.

A reclaimed version of this meaning seems to have arisen even more recently: "spec. A person who is extremely devoted to and knowledgeable about computers or related technology. In this sense, esp. when as a self-designation, not necessarily depreciative."

1984 Bye in net.jokes (Usenet newsgroup) 20 Feb., I was a lonely young computer geek With a program due 'most every week.
1993 R. RUCKER et al. Mondo 2000 122/1 Geek is the proud, insider term for nerd. If you are not a dedicated techie, don't use this word.
2001 Independent 4 June II. 9/1 We're the nerds, the geeks, the dweebs: the men and women who can spend 20 hours straight contemplating 600 bytes of obscure, arcane, impenetrable computer code.

The circus-related live-animal-eating meaning is described as specifically US slang, and it is attested from 1919. I presume this meaning developed from the original "dupe" or "fool" meaning for the word, once it had been carried over to the US, and is basically independent of the "nerd" meaning development:

1919 Billboard (Cincinnati) 25 Oct. 74/4 (advt.) At Liberty{em}Snake charmer or geek man; would like to join show going south.
1935 Amer. Mercury June 229 Geek, a degenerate who bites off the heads of chickens in a gory cannibal show.
1948 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 7 Mar. 25 An amiable alcoholic who keeps a real live chicken-eating geek in his garden.

Incidentally, the OED also lists the compound geek chic: "a glamorization of the culture and appearance of geeks; the style associated with geeks", first quote from 1991.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for these!