I always prefer to think of the word "geek" more as a verb than a noun. We're not geeks, we're geeky, and everyone geeks out on their own thing. Whether that's scifi and fantasy, or music, or film, or role playing games, or whatever... We focus our attentions firmly on our passions and we become mini-experts: geeks.
But where does the word come from? Well, Wikipedia has this to say:
"The word comes from English dialect geek or geck (meaning a "fool" or "freak"; from Middle Low German Geck)." (1)
So the word was created and is still being used as a form of criticism, a slight on someone's character for having such and such an interest or hobby or personality trait. But it's been reclaimed in the last decade or so by the ever popular and growing Geek Culture movement. The very first result in my Google Search says this:
"Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members." (2)
We see it everywhere; from Big Bang Theory, Metal Lords, to Stranger Things. Seems being geeky is all the rage. But some of us were geeky before geeky was the new hipster. We played DnD in dirty basements for hours! We marathoned and needed at-the-ready snacks! We put on indie rock shows at local community centers! We were and still are the beating heart of what it means to be geeky.
Independent. Unique. Geeky.
You do you and ignore everything else!
Excelsior!
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek
(2) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0142200
