Technology

[Stevenloan]

Hi guys! What do you call a person who knows a lot about or can use technology very well?

Your answers will be greatly appreciated.

StevenLoan

[Phil White]

Colloquially, we would usually call such a person a "geek". I have the feeling that the meaning of this has changed over the past 15 years or so. Originally, it tended to be negative and refer to people who were only interested in technology and didn't have much of a social life. Nowadays, it is far more neutral. Although it usually refers to people who know a lot about IT, it can also be used for anyone who has a lot of knowledge and expertise in any field ("I'm a bit of a film geek", "she's a classic car geek").

Again colloquially, people are referred to as "techies".

In a particular field, you may call someone a "guru" ("she's a computer guru").

More formally, we would generally say that someone is "an expert in computers") or something similar.

[trolley]

Our resident IT specialist, at work is known as "our Geek". He even refers to himself as a geek. I once made the mistake of calling him "our nerd" and he corrected me...a liitle miffed. Strange breed, those fellows.

[Phil White]

When I worked for a big industrial company, our resident IT specialist was just called "Jesus".

• He was Spanish and his name was indeed Jesus.
• He pottered around with long hair, wearing sandals.
• We called on him as our only salvation in time of need.

In our department, we had stickers on our keyboards: "If you have problems, call Jesus on 123".

[Stevenloan]

Phil White and trolley : Thank you both so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

StevenLoan