Etymology

Nerd has been part of our lexicon for three-quarters of a century, its geeky meaning embodied by some of the most recognizable characters in film and TV, but its origin story is a bit murky.

Although "dog" is ubiquitous today to describe man's best friend, it remains a mystery where the word originally came from.

*This post was updated on Thursday, July 9, at 4:19 p.m.The past few weeks of Black Lives Matter and anti-racism protests have raised questions about the…