Re: REQ: a dork!

On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, peter cliffe wrote:
->Well, I live near Liverpool, but have heard this all over the UK.
 
   For those of you outside of the U.S., in American English --
especially nowadays in the computer age -- the term "dork" is
probably most commonly understood as a synonym for "nerd," which
means an unathletic, indoor couch-potato, four-eyed (i.e., wears
glasses), intellectually-inclined, "pointy-headed" computer
expert who plays chess or video games on the computer, is some-
where between five and 55 years old, who gets his jollies out of
hacking into the computers of the Pentagon or the NSA (No Such
Agency, as columnist Bill Safire calls it), and whose social life
consists of posting messages here in Cyberspace.
 
   Another term is "geek."  Perhaps "nerd" is what the original
poster meant when he used the term "dork."  Let's hope so!  Now,
hopefully, the bloody "dork" business can be laid to rest once
and for all.  (Oops!  Sorry!  That's another instance where the
meaning of a word is different in American English than in British
English.  In America the word "bloody" has no special significance
and isn't a swear-word as it is in England.)
 
   And that seems to provide a segue for me to throw a bridge across
these linguistic waters.  I've taken the liberty of making a few tiny
changes in Joan's wonderful suspension bridge.  Here's my version:
 
                                           ^^
      ^^      ..                                       ..
              [].                                     .[]
            .:[]:`.         ^^                      .':[]:.
          .: :[]: :`.                             .': :[]: :.
        .: : :[]: : :`.                         .': : :[]: : :.
      .: : : :[]: : : :`:-._               _,-:': : : :[]: : : :.
  -.-:-:-:-:-:[]:-:-:-:-:-:-:=.=.=.=.=.=.=:-:-:-:-:-:-:[]:-:-:-:-:-.-
  _:_:_:_:_:_:[]:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:[]:_:_:_:_:_:_
  !!!!!!!!!!!![]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![]!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^[]^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^[]^^^^^^^^^^^^^
              []                                       []
              []                                       []
              []                                       []
   ~~^-~^_~^~/  \~^-~^~_~^-~_^~-^~_^~~-^~_~^~-~_~-^~_^/  \~^-~_~^-~~-
  ~ _~~- ~^-^~-^~~- ^~_^-^~~_ -~^_ -~_-~~^- _~~_~-^_ ~^-^~~-_^-~ ~^
     ~ ^- _~~_-  ~~ _ ~  ^~  - ~~^ _ -  ^~-  ~ _  ~~^  - ~_   - ~^_~
       ~-  ^_  ~^ -  ^~ _ - ~^~ _   _~^~-  _ ~~^ - _ ~ - _ ~~^ -
          ~^ -_JGS-dm_ ~ _ - _ ~^~-  _~ -_   ~- _ ~^ _ -  ~ ^-
              ~^~ - _ ^ - ~~~ _ - _ ~-^ ~ __- ~_ - ~  ~^_-
                  ~ ~- ^~ -  ~^ -  ~ ^~ - ~~  ^~ - ~
 
   Coming in future installments:  Trusses!  Cantilevers!  Arches!
 
        >>>----------------------------------------------<<<
        >>>  david moeser -- erasmus att iglou dott com  <<<
        >>>            Censornati, Ohio - USA            <<<
        >>>----------------------------------------------<<<
        *       "DSFA" = Doesn't Stand For Anything!       *