Twelfth Night: The Origin Of The Word Geek

The word geek today has two main definitions. One definition is an unfashionable or socially inept person (geek,n.1.). The other definition which came from the British & World dictionary is ‘a look’ (geek,n.2.). It did not always have these meanings to it. In fact it has had several different meaning and spellings to it over the last couple of centuries. Back in 1515 Alexander Barclay’s Certayne Eclogues described geck as a simpleton or one who is deceived. It could also be a verb, meaning to deceive or to cheat. Shakespeare used the word at least twice in two of his plays one was in the Twelfth Night in 1601. The other was in Cymbeline but he uses the spelling geeke but Dave Wilton thinks that it was a transcription error and geck was the word that was intended. These were the first times the word geck came into play in the world. The word geek started in the early 19th century from the US slang word geck or “fool” which originated from a Germanic source. The most common way today of using the word is to call someone a geek. That could either be taken in a positive way or negative way depending on how the person said it to you or someone else. An unfashionable or socially inept …show more content…
Which means engage in or discuss computer-related tasks obsessively or with great attention to technical detail (geek out,v.1.). For example: keep it simple or geek out and create multiple web pages while typing a paper for college. Another way to use it as a verb is to be or become extremely excited or enthusiastic about a subject, typically one of specialist or minority interest (geek out,v.1.1). For example: one can be geeking out over something that is coming out that they are excited for. No one really uses the verb to it anymore because it makes someone seem inept in social activities but with today’s technology everyone geeks out a lot anymore. People are always on their cell phones that they are obsessed with