今日、テレビを見ていたら「オタク」という日本語に”geek”という英語が対応するとありましたが、オタクに対応するものは”geek”の他に”nerd”もあります。その違いは、

Nerd:

• [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.
• [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what’s really important and interesting and doesn’t care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games.

Geek:

A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves ― and some who are in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard ‘hacker’ as a label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed.

どちらも日本語の「一匹狼」を良い評価にしたような意味を持っています。Geekはどちらかといえば、特別なスキルを持っている人を指します。どちらも成功していることが多い。もっと詳しく”nerd”について知りたい人は、「オタクが人気者になれない理由」を見てみてください。