The history of "geek," and Patsy Cline goes "Crazy"

I was watching the 1985 movie "Sweet Dreams" (Jessica Lange, Ed Harris) the other night. There was a scene in which a teenage girl said to her date "Oh, you're such a geek!" It sounded a bit anachronous, since the scene was set in 1956, so I looked up the word.

"Geek" is not in my edition of the O.E.D., but Random House defines it as a slang term for "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken." They suggest it is a variation of "geck" - a Scottish term for a contemptible person. Wiki says the root still survives in the Dutch "gek" = "crazy."

Was it just a coincidence that "geek" (crazy) was used in a movie biography of a singer for whom "Crazy" was a signature song? Probably. But interesting.

Rather than embed a picture of a geek above, it makes more sense to use the space for Patsy Cline singing Willie Nelson's ballad "Crazy." Those who would prefer to watch Jessica Lange lip-synch can see the movie clip here.