Gerald McGrew claims he would like to collect “a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker too” for his imaginary zoo in the Dr. Seuss story “If I Ran the Zoo.” It soon became the slang word for someone who is a “square.” Sixty years later, the word “nerd” immediately brings to mind a certain visual: Braces. Eyeglasses. Ill-fitting britches. Outdated hairdo.
Although there are plenty of nerdy characters throughout the history of television – Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Barney Fife (Don Knotts), for instance, in the early days – the sitcom “Happy Days” is credited for popularizing the term again in the late 1970s. At that time, it referred to anybody who was “uncool” – basically anybody who wasn’t Fonzie – but it was Potsie Weber (Anson Williams) who more often than not got that moniker. As time has moved on, the word nerd has evolved to encompass a wide variety of characters,...
Although there are plenty of nerdy characters throughout the history of television – Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Barney Fife (Don Knotts), for instance, in the early days – the sitcom “Happy Days” is credited for popularizing the term again in the late 1970s. At that time, it referred to anybody who was “uncool” – basically anybody who wasn’t Fonzie – but it was Potsie Weber (Anson Williams) who more often than not got that moniker. As time has moved on, the word nerd has evolved to encompass a wide variety of characters,...
- 7/19/2020
- by Susan Pennington, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
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