Slang dictionary
blerd
[blurd]
黑料网 does blerd mean?
It is time, brothers and sisters, to binge on some…Star Trek! A blerd is slang term for black nerd.
Where does blerd come from?
A nerd听(a word dating to the 1950s) has long stereotyped a socially awkward person who enjoys things like comic books, action figures, and Dungeons and Dragons.
As archetypes go, nerds were typically considered white and male. The idea of a black nerd鈥攖hat nerdy things could be enjoyed by black people, that nerdiness wasn’t just the domain of whiteness鈥攚as rare in popular culture.
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In fact, the character听Steve Urkel from听Family Matters, a black nerd,听was considered so odd and surprising he became the most popular character on the show and a 1990s icon. Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who worked for The Cosby Show, went so far as to say that Urkel was “the kind of kid black kids would not want to be and would also accuse of trying to be white.”
Blerd culture has come a long way from the days of Steve Urkel but he鈥檚 still one of our beloved icons. Steve represents a shift in thinking about who can be nerds! Steve Urkel one of the greatest TV characters of all time and further proof the impact Blerds have on the world.
— Black Nerds Club (@blacknerdsclub)
Fortunately in the late 1990s and 2000s, with the massive popularity of everything from Harry Potter to Marvel movies, nerdiness got woke鈥攁nd the term听blerd, a blend of black and nerd, was born.
One听early听use of blerd appeared听on Usenet was in a 2003 discussion of the rock band They Might Be Giants. A user jokingly used听Blerd to describe a black person who liked such music, considered nerdy and, well, very white.
Blerd听was popularized, however, in a 2006 episode of the TV medical sitcom听Scrubs. In the episode “My Best Friend’s Baby’s Baby and My Baby’s Baby,” Dr. Christoper Turk (Donald Faison, a black man) describes his cousin as “the world’s biggest听blerd.” After the other characters give Turk weird looks, he explains that听a听blerd听is a black nerd.
Turk is a blerd!!
— KenGlin (@KenGlin)
As the 2000s closed out, blerd gained more popularity after actor and comedian David Alan Grier used it to describe himself on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
David Alan Grier on Jimmy Fallon tonight said he used to be a "Blerd," which is a Black Nerd. Lol!
— Mandy King (@mandyyyking)
In 2012, blerd further spread after TV critic Eric Deggans repeatedly used the word of himself in a segment on NPR, embracing the concept and wrenching its mantle from Urkel. The term was notably used in the 2010s of such figures as Donald Glover, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and President Barack Obama.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is my favorite Blerd.
— Shawn Brandow (@mgkbull)
By 2018, blerd听was听familiar and popular enough to be used as the hashtag #blerd all over social media like Twitter and Instagram.
Wait President Obama was on between 2 ferns…that brother is a first class blerd.
— Play On Nerdz (@PlayOnNerdz)
WATCH: Why Are There So Many Different Kinds Of Nerds?
Examples of blerd
Who uses blerd?
First off, understand that the word and concept blerd acknowledges that nerdiness has historically been racially constructed, with stereotypically “nerdy” things either excluding black people or perceived as undesirable in black culture.
That said,听blerd is mostly used positively鈥攁s a proud self-identifier. And don’t heap more stereotypes on the blerd. They don’t necessarily prefer听Miles Morales to Peter Parker or Lando Calrissian to Han Solo.
Getting my on at the White Ass Ball on New Years Eve.
— Elizabeth Washington (@ViciousToken)
In short, the word blerd says: I’m black, but I can enjoy nerdy things, too, and I’m going to be visible and open about it.
from a POV. Shout out to our ! ! Yay!
— Hollie Harper (@HollieHarper5)
It's Silly Socks day at work .
— Candela #2020 (@mohtdor)
My patronus is a dolphin!
— GoldLink Fan Acct. (@PBnJay__)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of blerd like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of blerd that will help our users expand their word mastery.