nPosted on July 15, 2019
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Personally insulting people is a no-good, very bad thing.
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n(If you don’t like what someone is saying or doing, tell them so. But be specific: “I don’t like it when you do ____” or “I think that’s a mean thing to say!” Don’t get into personal insults like, “You’re so lame!” or “Gosh, you’re dumb” or “You’re too ugly to talk to me.”)
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nAnd making fun of people, bullying them, taunting them, name-calling – these are horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad things, for sure.
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A lot of us get teased and taunted and name-called, especially when we are children, and especially in school. Kids with glasses (like my little sister) get teased. Kids with physical problems or differences (like a friend of mine) get teased. Kids with “weird” clothes get teased. (I had to wear “corrective” shoes because I “toed in” a bit, and I was teased for wearing “clodhoppers” and “ugly” shoes. It turns out that such shoes don’t actually fix in-toeing at all, and that almost everyone outgrows in-toeing without treatment – so I had to endure all that teasing for no good reason!)
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nSome kids are teased for being “dumb,” and some kids are teased for being “too smart.” Strangely, I was teased for both!
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I had a hard time with math lessons in elementary school, so I was made to walk down the hall to another, “lower” class for math. I was the only one – so of course I was tortured!
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nOn the other hand, when I was a bit older, I was criticized for being too smart, getting too high of grades and ruining it for everyone else, using too big of words, etc.
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nMany people taunting kids with good grades avoid the irony of saying “you’re too smart” – since “smart” IS a good thing! – by name calling:
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vv-w86H4NnI/XSTdnS8YkGI/AAAAAAACDow/0BpxNxERyu4kmV-CIqG_7PFAfFU-K3i0ACLcBGAs/s1600/mug.jpeg?w=696&ssl=1)
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nNerd.Geek.Dork.
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nThese insults actually have different dictionary definitions (although they tended to be flung about randomly):
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-g4Ik0xLitvU/XSTVCk3UXHI/AAAAAAACDnY/M6ZyIGPlmrgtqoFyvvE2NmGZeoHmhG4VQCLcBGAs/s1600/nerd.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
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nnA nerd is defined as someone who is obsessed with something specific, to an annoying degree. Because of this annoying obsessiveness, nerds are supposed to be bad at social interactions. I was surprised to realize that nerd first appeared in print in a Dr. Seuss book (If I Ran the Zoo, published in 1950)!
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nKids often use nerd to mean an overly-studious social outcast.
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A geek is defined as someone who is odd, bad at social interactions, and interested in computers / technology. This is a really old word that used to mean something more like freak, something used for a circus sideshow act that was really disturbing.
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nKids often use geek to mean an overly-studious social outcast.
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A dork is defined as someone who is odd, physically awkward, someone who is uncool or uptight, someone who wears unfashionable clothes and is bad at social interactions. It’s a slang word that was invented in the mid-1960s.
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nAnd even though it is supposed to mean “stupid” more than “smart,” kids often use dork to mean an overly-studious social outcast.
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nThe interesting to note that both nerd and geek tend, now, to be words that smart, driven, computer-savvy adults use for themselves proudly. We have taken the words used to torment us and have elevated them into praise – so much so that even advertisers use them in a positive way: “Embrace your inner geekiness!” “For the sci-fi nerd in everyone!” “The latest celebrity nerd to appear on The Big Bang Theory…” “Tune in to Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry YouTube channel!”
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-cTI3ooKMIKw/XSTZE_JsklI/AAAAAAACDns/6ntaAipBa00fmH3dPT8RkYIrZFq2go0RwCLcBGAs/s400/geek%2Bpride.png?resize=400%2C272&ssl=1)
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-z9Y5inTzkuE/XSTZFXEr6nI/AAAAAAACDn0/uSG1Ol9esBoBY_FpQJ0MfIiqBSI0VIU5gCLcBGAs/s400/nerdy%2Bnew%2Bcool.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1)
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-AcPn0G7Kwxk/XSTZExy0s7I/AAAAAAACDno/nm_1nYoFvvsUWo4RtLkBIVX1LnGD5W2IgCLcBGAs/s400/geek%2Bweek.jpeg?resize=400%2C240&ssl=1)
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nBut dork, the newest word of the bunch, has not yet become quite as popular and positive. Let’s work on that!
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nHere are some positive spins on “dork”:
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-UnzdJu539aI/XSTZ-3ACtuI/AAAAAAACDoY/tcV-pfQZ9OEKgBuJG3PVGtQa1A3YMfsrgCLcBGAs/s320/DorkDiaries-632x362.jpg?resize=320%2C183&ssl=1)
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-3JahKAH3TR8/XSTZf_7swbI/AAAAAAACDoI/V771KR9EXNQe7SUjt80x4bCTkCYzcCo0wCLcBGAs/s400/dork%2Bside.png?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1)
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![](https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-4N62-pfCGvE/XSTZfwg1IAI/AAAAAAACDoM/sb84bBreYokcImf-KScbW6sv1yJEXMd2wCLcBGAs/s400/dork%2Bside%2Bpi.png?resize=333%2C400&ssl=1)
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Be a Dork Day doesn’t mean dress differently than normal – and in weird, unfashionable clothes.
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nBe a Dork Day doesn’t mean deliberately dropping stuff or tripping over your own feet.
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nBe a Dork Day doesn’t mean make fun of people you actually think are weird!
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nInstead, it is a day that challenges us to do the things we want to do – to wear what we want, say what we want, try new hobbies or sports we’ve been wanting to try – without fear of looking stupid, being awkward, or being teased or criticized.
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You know that motto “Dance like nobody’s watching”? Well, Be a Dork Day says: “Live like nobody’s watching…or judging!”
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nAlso on this date:
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nnMythicist Thomas Bulfinch’s birthday
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nGummi Worm Day
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nSt. Swithin’s Day
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nMathematician Fibonacci’s birthday
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nPhysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s birthday
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nPainter Rembrandt van Rijn’s birthday
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nAnniversary of Twitter’s introduction
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nWoodie Wagon Day
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nnHis Majesty the Sultan’s Birthday in Brunei
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nLuis Muñoz Rivera’s Birthday
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n(Third Monday in July)
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nCheck out my Pinterest boards for:
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugust holidays
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nAugust birthdays
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Historical anniversaries in August
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