nerd (nûrd) n. Slang

1. A foolish, inept, or unattractive person.
2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

The word nerd first appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's "If I Ran the Zoo":
“And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo, A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!” (The nerd is a small humanoid creature looking comically angry)

Nerd next appears, with a gloss, in a 1957 issue of the Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday Mail in a column entitled “ABC for SQUARES”:
“Nerd - a square...any explanation needed?”

The third appearance of nerd in print is back in the United States in 1970 in Current Slang:
“Nurd [sic], someone with objectionable habits or traits.... An uninteresting person, a ‘dud.’”

I also found this definition from Webster:
Nurd: a person who is extremely interested and knowledgeable about computers, electronics, technology, and gadgets; also called nerd, geek

And from WordNet...

nerd
1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyonewith an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.
2. [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. Compare the two senses of computer geek.

I was recently called a nerd. After reviewing the above, I'm thinking...what? Me? Socially inept, a square, a dud? Ouch. But, if I may be selective, I'll take the part where it says "above-average IQ" and "knows what's really important."