What’s an unexpectedly controversial word? “Nerd.” Once upon a time, it was a clear-cut insult. Yet in recent years, it has become an endearing and complimentary term. It’s a desirable label — to most people, it implies being smart and quirky.

As the meaning of the term “nerd” has changed, a new label has emerged — the “fake nerd.” But what constitutes a fake nerd? Who gets to decide what’s nerdy enough to be considered actually nerdy? And why do people get so upset about “fake nerds?” Those questions are impossible to answer — and that’s part of the reason why the term “fake nerd” is bogus.

Common complaints about fake nerds are that they’re pretending to be nerdy for attention or that they just want to be a nerd because it’s cool to be a nerd now. Those are superficial judgments. It is impossible to know why someone is doing what they’re doing just from looking at them, yet snap judgments are made, like “Does she seriously think wearing big glasses makes her a nerd?” or “I bet you haven’t even watched one episode of ‘Battlestar Galactica!’ ”

People are accused of being a fake nerd for trivial reasons — not liking the same video games as the accuser or not having encyclopedic knowledge of [insert TV show here] or only liking a comic book franchise because there was a movie about it. But “nerd” is an umbrella term. And not knowing everything there is to know about something does not make one’s interest illegitimate.

Perhaps it’s part of the herd mentality. Everybody wants to be part of an exclusive club, and some are suspicious of newcomers. However, everyone has to start out somewhere. It’s not a bad thing if someone got into Marvel comics because they saw “The Avengers” — instead of being shunned, they should be welcomed and given recommendations.

Another reason people are so quick to label and dislike “fake nerds” is because, as I mentioned earlier, it used to be an insulting term. People were bullied for being nerdy, and as nerdiness has become a desirable trait, fewer people are bullied because of it. Yet if nerd culture is based off of common interests, then past experiences shouldn’t matter.

Ultimately, though, it’s just another label, reminiscent of ‘80s movies about high school. Nobody ever got in a fight over who had the right to call themselves preppy or goth or a hippie. I’ve never met anybody who cared about who called themselves what after high school — with the exception, of course, of “nerdy.”

People who care about fake nerds need to get over themselves. Somebody may not know as much as you do or have been into something for as long as you have, but that does not make their interest any less genuine.

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