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July 27: How Nerdfighters Drop Insults

2007-07-27 · letter vlog · John · 3:36 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Personal life, Books & writing) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: community lore

John announces he has finished cataloguing his home library, asks why being called a nerd is an insult, argues contemporary insults are lame and stages a dialogue of real Shakespearean insults instead, then tours his library.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; John has finished cataloguing his home library (LibraryThing, a New York Public Library guide 'in your pants')

  • ★★ John has finished cataloguing his home library with LibraryThing and a New York Public Library guide, a goal since leaving New York so he never loses a book again. — 00:00:24 · New York City

00:00:54 — Flamers will say 'you are a nerd': why is being a nerd bad?; contemporary insults are lame

  • ★★★ Anticipating flamers calling him a nerd, John asks why being a nerd is bad: it means preferring intelligence and thoughtfulness to stupidity and vapidity. — 00:01:01
  • ★★★ John argues most contemporary insults are lame; he doesn't mind being insulted, only being insulted so poorly. (playful) — 00:01:15

00:01:37 — A dialogue of contemporary insults vs. one of real Shakespearean insults; Nerdfighters for the win; sign-off

  • ★★★ John contrasts a dialogue of contemporary insults (dork, geek, you suck) with one built from real Shakespearean insults, which he performs. (playful) — 00:01:37
  • ★★ John concludes that Shakespeare is how you insult people: Nerdfighters for the win. (playful) — 00:02:39 · Nerdfighteria

00:02:44 — Tour of the home library's sections, ending with first editions of books about conjoined twins

Humor (significant)

  • John names his library guide with the 'in your pants' suffix, then wonders about it. — 00:00:50

    “I wonder exactly how many books can fit inside the library in my pants.”

  • Mid-way through the Shakespearean insult dialogue, John stops to admire one insult. — 00:02:04

    “Dude, "carcass fit for hounds"? That's a burn.”

  • Touring his shelves, John notes a wicker basket placed between the Islam and Christianity sections. — 00:03:00

    “You have to separate them with the wicker basket so they don't get mad at each other”

  • The library tour ends on one last, very specific collection. — 00:03:30

    “my collection of first editions of books that are about conjoined twins.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: nerd

Also: People: 50 Cent · Lindsay Lohan · Mark Twain · William Shakespeare

Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Looking for Alaska (novel) · New York Public Library's Guide to Organizing a Home Library

Organizations: LibraryThing

Terms: in your pants

Places: New York City

Only in the description or credits: Shakespeare's Insults

Also centred on nerd: Brotherhood 2.0: June 20: Moving · October 24th: RANDOM NERDFIGHTING · How to Make Guys Like You · Harry Potter Nerds Win at Life · Thoughts from Comic-Con (NO MORE CHEETO MEDIA!)

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