[Ads-l] Gnerd variant of nerd, gnurd

[Grant Barrett]

A listener to the radio show mentioned that in his high school in 1967,
they used the spelling "gnerd" for what is usually spelled "nerd" these
days.

Indeed, a quick periodical search does turn up a few instances. I do not
find that spelling recorded in any of the everyday or slang reference
works. It is compelling that the citations — including my listener's — are
date-clustered; it suggests some related connection. A more thorough and
complete search may find unclustered others, however.

1961 Oct. 7 (Wilmington DE) News Journal p. 14: Professor Brubaker himself
would be called a pale one (an intellectual) or a gnerd (what he probably
called "a queer duck" when he was a student).

1967 Aberjona (Winchester Public High School, Winchester MA) p. 66: [T]he
Student Council was extremely active this year [...] running the annual
Gnerd Dance[...].

1967 Jan. 8 (Omaha NE) Sunday World-Herald Magazine p. 30: [...][R]ipping
the "simpering" scoutmaster-hero as an "unmitigated gnerd" and concluding
that the entire film is "likely to restore public faith in juvenile
delinquency."

Cheers,

Grant Barrett

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