The Nerd Manifesto

nerd-de-dibujos-animados-con-un-ordenador-portatil_21-95687938A group of Swedes have started a petition to have the word “nerd” redefined in the Svenska Akademiens Ordlista (official Swedish dictionary.)

The word nörd was added to the Swedish dictionary in 2005 and is currently defined as enkelspårig och löjeväckande person (a simple and laughable person.)

The aim of the petition is to change the definition to something more positive, and each of the people who have signed it have added their own definition.

The online petition, Nörduppropet, which has 5388 signatures so far, states that “a nerd is a person with strong interests, a person with enormous drive and commitment.”

Svenska Akademiens Ordlista‘s editor, Sven-Göran Malmgren  concedes that “the word’s meaning has surely changed somewhat since 2005 and has become more neutral. We’ll be looking to see if the definition needs to be changed.”