Since the fifteenth century, geek or geck has described a low-life fool, or a carnival performer often billed as a wild man.
For example, a geek is, in carnival slang, someone who bites off the heads of chickens or snakes.
At the beginning of the computer age, the word geek took on the meaning of a socially awkward intellectual.
But through accepting and celebrating their geek status, skilled computer operators have managed to change the meaning of the word, so that a geek is someone to be admired.
Geeks are also known as nerd, gimp, dweeb, dork, and spod.
