Nerd is the Word

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Dr. Seuss is the father of all nerds.

Yes indeedy, Elbow Benders of the geeky persuasion – the first documented use of the word Nerd can be found in the 1950 Seuss story, If I Ran the Zoo.

If you are unfamiliar with this riveting tale, I’ve created a Seussy synopsis just for you…

It makes the case for one Gerald McGrew

who has a list of the things he would do

if he were the cheese in charge of the zoo.

And there on his list was something brand new –

An ill-tempered Nerd from the land of Ka-Troo.

Okay, I only call this Nerd dude ill-tempered because of the accompanying illustration – think grumpy humanoid sporting crazy hair and a black T-shirt.

I guess the thick-rimmed glasses must have come later when he needed bifocals…

Just as they did for me.

Hey, wait a minute –

You know, if this fellow from Ka-Troo did sport those glasses…

Whoa.

Um, maybe I should call him Daddy Seuss from now on.
 

PROMPT: How are those YESvember novels and picture books coming along? Why not throw in a crazy new word of your own today for a little extra fun? Who knows, it just might stick. After all, Yahoo, chortle, quark, and cyberspace were all found in stories first. And yeah, that list pretty much proves that we authors are obviously…

former residents of Ka-Troo.