L'etimologia di "nerd"

"It does come from the phrase ne’er-do-well - that's where the word is derived from - it was just shortening of that, which then became ne’erd and then nerd, meaning someone on the fringe of society". Lo spiega l'attore inglese Simon Pegg (che ha un po' l'aspetto del nerd, v. foto), ma, pare, senza avere prove. bostonglobe.                                 

James W. Pennebaker, The Secret Life of Pronoums. What Our Words Say About Us (Bloomsbury). Siamo quel che diciamo. Lo psicolinguista Pennebaker esplora "the many ways in which function words reveal our interior lives". nyt.