The many spellings of Nurd (or is it Nerd?)

As the bombs burst outside for Bastille Day, I commemorate something completely different...

While bored in 10th grade history class, I wrote a little treatise on the many ways to spell "nurd". I had come up with 742 different spellings. This post commemorates the 45th anniversary of that event, and is the first time I've attempted to recreate the list since then. This new compendium has a new total spellings count of 910!

Today we all know what a "nerd" is, and how most people spell it. But 45 years ago, it was in its primordial beginnings with no set meaning, nor an agreed upon spelling.

The spelling "nurd" was actually the preferred one in my high school circles in 1970. And the meaning was basically the punchline to a joke. A "nurd" (circa 1970) is someone who farts in the bathtub and bites the bubbles. While nerd/nurd has lost that meaning, it is interesting to see that there are other related words that still have that same meaning (according to the Urban Dictionary),

and the same early 1970s date is even referenced as well. See the definitions for dork, gorp, fonzanoon, etc.

But, a winner to competing spellings emerges from the mist, with "nerd" gaining traction just as the word itself starts getting increasingly used. See this Google NGRAM graph of the historical usage of the two spellings, showing a clear upswing in usage and spelling preference starting in the late 1970s. For me, it is no coincidence that the date corresponds to the advent of home computers, e.g. the Apple ][ in 1977.  [BTW, if you are wondering why usage might have plateaued, see how Asperger's has overtaken it.]

The irony is that the word nerd would eventually take on the meaning that describes the very kind of person who would take on a project of enumerating hundreds of its spellings.

The Rules

In 1970, thinking of the two spelling alternatives, I noticed that nurd is a unique combination of sounds, each of which has an unusually large number of possible spellings, hence the combinatorics explode. There is the starting "n" sound, followed by the "ur" sound, followed by a hard "d" sound, each of which has multiple spellings (in English).

So, I grabbed the biggest dictionary I could find, and at my desk (with the history teacher droning on), I enumerated all the variations (in a matrix, by hand, in pen, mind you) and came up with a total of 742. I am afraid I've lost track of that historic document. So, herewithin, I will attempt to recreate the set of rules, and the list of spellings generated by them.

An "n" sound at the beginning of a word, has an unbelievable number of spellings in English.
They are:

1. "n" as in nerd.
2. "gn" as in gnat.
3. "kn" as in know.
4. "cn" as in cnemis (I'm not making these up…look them up in the dictionary)
5. "mn" as in mnemonic.
6. "pn" as in pneumonia.
7. "nn" based on the logic that double letters can be used in the beginning, like "aa" in aardvark, or "ll" in Lloyd

The "urd" sound also has a huge number of spellings:

1. "urd" as in kurd.
2. "erd" as in herd.
3. "ird" as in bird.
4. "ord" as in word.
5. "oard" as in cupboard
6. "ard" as in standard, awkward.
7. "ered" as in blinkered.
8. "eard" as in heard.
9. "irred" as in stirred.
10. "urred" as in blurred.
11. "erred" as in deterred.
12. "ored" as in flavored, armored (hey, I was in the South, we pronounce 'em that way)
13. "ured" as in featured
14. "yred" as in martyred
15. "yrd" as in (lots of people with last name) Byrd, and Lynyrd Skynyrd (I said it was the South, plus its got nyrd twice!)

The hard consonant ending, has a few variations too:

1. a single consonant, as in mud, hence a "d" ending
2. a double consonant, as in odd, add, hence a "dd" ending
3. with a silent "e" and single consonant, as in facade, avant-garde, hence a "de" ending
4. with a silent "e" and double consonant, as in dradde, and (ye olde) shoppe, hence a "dde" ending

Ok, so thats 7 times 15 times 4 giving 420 …hmmm… I kinda remember some not-quite-silent "h"s thrown in, as in nhurd (it sounds the same!), and nurdhe as in "sadhe" (yes, it is! Merriam-Websters). So now 7 times 30 times 5 giving 1050.

But I think I threw out the "h" in front of "ord" and "ored" and "oard" and "ard" since that seemed stretching it even for me. So back down to 7 times 26 times 5 giving 910.

The Spellings

Count	_n...d	_nh...d	_n...dd	_nh...dd	_n...de	_nh...de	_n...dde	_nh...dde	_n...dhe	_nh...dhe
1	nurd	nhurd	nurdd	nhurdd	nurde	nhurde	nurdde	nhurdde	nurdhe	nhurdhe
11	cnurd	cnhurd	cnurdd	cnhurdd	cnurde	cnhurde	cnurdde	cnhurdde	cnurdhe	cnhurdhe
21	gnurd	gnhurd	gnurdd	gnhurdd	gnurde	gnhurde	gnurdde	gnhurdde	gnurdhe	gnhurdhe
31	knurd	knhurd	knurdd	knhurdd	knurde	knhurde	knurdde	knhurdde	knurdhe	knhurdhe
41	mnurd	mnhurd	mnurdd	mnhurdd	mnurde	mnhurde	mnurdde	mnhurdde	mnurdhe	mnhurdhe
51	nnurd	nnhurd	nnurdd	nnhurdd	nnurde	nnhurde	nnurdde	nnhurdde	nnurdhe	nnhurdhe
61	pnurd	pnhurd	pnurdd	pnhurdd	pnurde	pnhurde	pnurdde	pnhurdde	pnurdhe	pnhurdhe
.
71	nerd	nherd	nerdd	nherdd	nerde	nherde	nerdde	nherdde	nerdhe	nherdhe
81	cnerd	cnherd	cnerdd	cnherdd	cnerde	cnherde	cnerdde	cnherdde	cnerdhe	cnherdhe
91	gnerd	gnherd	gnerdd	gnherdd	gnerde	gnherde	gnerdde	gnherdde	gnerdhe	gnherdhe
101	knerd	knherd	knerdd	knherdd	knerde	knherde	knerdde	knherdde	knerdhe	knherdhe
111	mnerd	mnherd	mnerdd	mnherdd	mnerde	mnherde	mnerdde	mnherdde	mnerdhe	mnherdhe
121	nnerd	nnherd	nnerdd	nnherdd	nnerde	nnherde	nnerdde	nnherdde	nnerdhe	nnherdhe
131	pnerd	pnherd	pnerdd	pnherdd	pnerde	pnherde	pnerdde	pnherdde	pnerdhe	pnherdhe
.
141	nird	nhird	nirdd	nhirdd	nirde	nhirde	nirdde	nhirdde	nirdhe	nhirdhe
151	cnird	cnhird	cnirdd	cnhirdd	cnirde	cnhirde	cnirdde	cnhirdde	cnirdhe	cnhirdhe
161	gnird	gnhird	gnirdd	gnhirdd	gnirde	gnhirde	gnirdde	gnhirdde	gnirdhe	gnhirdhe
171	knird	knhird	knirdd	knhirdd	knirde	knhirde	knirdde	knhirdde	knirdhe	knhirdhe
181	mnird	mnhird	mnirdd	mnhirdd	mnirde	mnhirde	mnirdde	mnhirdde	mnirdhe	mnhirdhe
191	nnird	nnhird	nnirdd	nnhirdd	nnirde	nnhirde	nnirdde	nnhirdde	nnirdhe	nnhirdhe
201	pnird	pnhird	pnirdd	pnhirdd	pnirde	pnhirde	pnirdde	pnhirdde	pnirdhe	pnhirdhe
.
211	nord	.....	nordd	.....	norde	.....	nordde	.....	nordhe	.....
216	cnord	.....	cnordd	.....	cnorde	.....	cnordde	.....	cnordhe	.....
221	gnord	.....	gnordd	.....	gnorde	.....	gnordde	.....	gnordhe	.....
226	knord	.....	knordd	.....	knorde	.....	knordde	.....	knordhe	.....
231	mnord	.....	mnordd	.....	mnorde	.....	mnordde	.....	mnordhe	.....
236	nnord	.....	nnordd	.....	nnorde	.....	nnordde	.....	nnordhe	.....
241	pnord	.....	pnordd	.....	pnorde	.....	pnordde	.....	pnordhe	.....
.
246	noard	.....	noardd	.....	noarde	.....	noardde	.....	noardhe	.....
251	cnoard	.....	cnoardd	.....	cnoarde	.....	cnoardde	.....	cnoardhe	.....
256	gnoard	.....	gnoardd	.....	gnoarde	.....	gnoardde	.....	gnoardhe	.....
261	knoard	.....	knoardd	.....	knoarde	.....	knoardde	.....	knoardhe	.....
266	mnoard	.....	mnoardd	.....	mnoarde	.....	mnoardde	.....	mnoardhe	.....
271	nnoard	.....	nnoardd	.....	nnoarde	.....	nnoardde	.....	nnoardhe	.....
276	pnoard	.....	pnoardd	.....	pnoarde	.....	pnoardde	.....	pnoardhe	.....
.
281	nard	.....	nardd	.....	narde	.....	nardde	.....	nardhe	.....
286	cnard	.....	cnardd	.....	cnarde	.....	cnardde	.....	cnardhe	.....
291	gnard	.....	gnardd	.....	gnarde	.....	gnardde	.....	gnardhe	.....
296	knard	.....	knardd	.....	knarde	.....	knardde	.....	knardhe	.....
301	mnard	.....	mnardd	.....	mnarde	.....	mnardde	.....	mnardhe	.....
306	nnard	.....	nnardd	.....	nnarde	.....	nnardde	.....	nnardhe	.....
311	pnard	.....	pnardd	.....	pnarde	.....	pnardde	.....	pnardhe	.....
.
316	nered	nhered	neredd	nheredd	nerede	nherede	neredde	nheredde	neredhe	nheredhe
326	cnered	cnhered	cneredd	cnheredd	cnerede	cnherede	cneredde	cnheredde	cneredhe	cnheredhe
336	gnered	gnhered	gneredd	gnheredd	gnerede	gnherede	gneredde	gnheredde	gneredhe	gnheredhe
346	knered	knhered	kneredd	knheredd	knerede	knherede	kneredde	knheredde	kneredhe	knheredhe
356	mnered	mnhered	mneredd	mnheredd	mnerede	mnherede	mneredde	mnheredde	mneredhe	mnheredhe
366	nnered	nnhered	nneredd	nnheredd	nnerede	nnherede	nneredde	nnheredde	nneredhe	nnheredhe
376	pnered	pnhered	pneredd	pnheredd	pnerede	pnherede	pneredde	pnheredde	pneredhe	pnheredhe
.
386	neard	nheard	neardd	nheardd	nearde	nhearde	neardde	nheardde	neardhe	nheardhe
396	cneard	cnheard	cneardd	cnheardd	cnearde	cnhearde	cneardde	cnheardde	cneardhe	cnheardhe
406	gneard	gnheard	gneardd	gnheardd	gnearde	gnhearde	gneardde	gnheardde	gneardhe	gnheardhe
416	kneard	knheard	kneardd	knheardd	knearde	knhearde	kneardde	knheardde	kneardhe	knheardhe
426	mneard	mnheard	mneardd	mnheardd	mnearde	mnhearde	mneardde	mnheardde	mneardhe	mnheardhe
436	nneard	nnheard	nneardd	nnheardd	nnearde	nnhearde	nneardde	nnheardde	nneardhe	nnheardhe
446	pneard	pnheard	pneardd	pnheardd	pnearde	pnhearde	pneardde	pnheardde	pneardhe	pnheardhe
.
456	nirred	nhirred	nirredd	nhirredd	nirrede	nhirrede	nirredde	nhirredde	nirredhe	nhirredhe
466	cnirred	cnhirred	cnirredd	cnhirredd	cnirrede	cnhirrede	cnirredde	cnhirredde	cnirredhe	cnhirredhe
476	gnirred	gnhirred	gnirredd	gnhirredd	gnirrede	gnhirrede	gnirredde	gnhirredde	gnirredhe	gnhirredhe
486	knirred	knhirred	knirredd	knhirredd	knirrede	knhirrede	knirredde	knhirredde	knirredhe	knhirredhe
496	mnirred	mnhirred	mnirredd	mnhirredd	mnirrede	mnhirrede	mnirredde	mnhirredde	mnirredhe	mnhirredhe
506	nnirred	nnhirred	nnirredd	nnhirredd	nnirrede	nnhirrede	nnirredde	nnhirredde	nnirredhe	nnhirredhe
516	pnirred	pnhirred	pnirredd	pnhirredd	pnirrede	pnhirrede	pnirredde	pnhirredde	pnirredhe	pnhirredhe
.
526	nurred	nhurred	nurredd	nhurredd	nurrede	nhurrede	nurredde	nhurredde	nurredhe	nhurredhe
536	cnurred	cnhurred	cnurredd	cnhurredd	cnurrede	cnhurrede	cnurredde	cnhurredde	cnurredhe	cnhurredhe
546	gnurred	gnhurred	gnurredd	gnhurredd	gnurrede	gnhurrede	gnurredde	gnhurredde	gnurredhe	gnhurredhe
556	knurred	knhurred	knurredd	knhurredd	knurrede	knhurrede	knurredde	knhurredde	knurredhe	knhurredhe
566	mnurred	mnhurred	mnurredd	mnhurredd	mnurrede	mnhurrede	mnurredde	mnhurredde	mnurredhe	mnhurredhe
576	nnurred	nnhurred	nnurredd	nnhurredd	nnurrede	nnhurrede	nnurredde	nnhurredde	nnurredhe	nnhurredhe
586	pnurred	pnhurred	pnurredd	pnhurredd	pnurrede	pnhurrede	pnurredde	pnhurredde	pnurredhe	pnhurredhe
.
596	nerred	nherred	nerredd	nherredd	nerrede	nherrede	nerredde	nherredde	nerredhe	nherredhe
606	cnerred	cnherred	cnerredd	cnherredd	cnerrede	cnherrede	cnerredde	cnherredde	cnerredhe	cnherredhe
616	gnerred	gnherred	gnerredd	gnherredd	gnerrede	gnherrede	gnerredde	gnherredde	gnerredhe	gnherredhe
626	knerred	knherred	knerredd	knherredd	knerrede	knherrede	knerredde	knherredde	knerredhe	knherredhe
636	mnerred	mnherred	mnerredd	mnherredd	mnerrede	mnherrede	mnerredde	mnherredde	mnerredhe	mnherredhe
646	nnerred	nnherred	nnerredd	nnherredd	nnerrede	nnherrede	nnerredde	nnherredde	nnerredhe	nnherredhe
656	pnerred	pnherred	pnerredd	pnherredd	pnerrede	pnherrede	pnerredde	pnherredde	pnerredhe	pnherredhe
.
666	nored	.....	noredd	.....	norede	.....	noredde	.....	noredhe	.....
671	cnored	.....	cnoredd	.....	cnorede	.....	cnoredde	.....	cnoredhe	.....
676	gnored	.....	gnoredd	.....	gnorede	.....	gnoredde	.....	gnoredhe	.....
681	knored	.....	knoredd	.....	knorede	.....	knoredde	.....	knoredhe	.....
686	mnored	.....	mnoredd	.....	mnorede	.....	mnoredde	.....	mnoredhe	.....
691	nnored	.....	nnoredd	.....	nnorede	.....	nnoredde	.....	nnoredhe	.....
696	pnored	.....	pnoredd	.....	pnorede	.....	pnoredde	.....	pnoredhe	.....
.
701	nured	nhured	nuredd	nhuredd	nurede	nhurede	nuredde	nhuredde	nuredhe	nhuredhe
711	cnured	cnhured	cnuredd	cnhuredd	cnurede	cnhurede	cnuredde	cnhuredde	cnuredhe	cnhuredhe
721	gnured	gnhured	gnuredd	gnhuredd	gnurede	gnhurede	gnuredde	gnhuredde	gnuredhe	gnhuredhe
731	knured	knhured	knuredd	knhuredd	knurede	knhurede	knuredde	knhuredde	knuredhe	knhuredhe
741	mnured	mnhured	mnuredd	mnhuredd	mnurede	mnhurede	mnuredde	mnhuredde	mnuredhe	mnhuredhe
751	nnured	nnhured	nnuredd	nnhuredd	nnurede	nnhurede	nnuredde	nnhuredde	nnuredhe	nnhuredhe
761	pnured	pnhured	pnuredd	pnhuredd	pnurede	pnhurede	pnuredde	pnhuredde	pnuredhe	pnhuredhe
.
771	nyred	nhyred	nyredd	nhyredd	nyrede	nhyrede	nyredde	nhyredde	nyredhe	nhyredhe
781	cnyred	cnhyred	cnyredd	cnhyredd	cnyrede	cnhyrede	cnyredde	cnhyredde	cnyredhe	cnhyredhe
791	gnyred	gnhyred	gnyredd	gnhyredd	gnyrede	gnhyrede	gnyredde	gnhyredde	gnyredhe	gnhyredhe
801	knyred	knhyred	knyredd	knhyredd	knyrede	knhyrede	knyredde	knhyredde	knyredhe	knhyredhe
811	mnyred	mnhyred	mnyredd	mnhyredd	mnyrede	mnhyrede	mnyredde	mnhyredde	mnyredhe	mnhyredhe
821	nnyred	nnhyred	nnyredd	nnhyredd	nnyrede	nnhyrede	nnyredde	nnhyredde	nnyredhe	nnhyredhe
831	pnyred	pnhyred	pnyredd	pnhyredd	pnyrede	pnhyrede	pnyredde	pnhyredde	pnyredhe	pnhyredhe
.
841	nyrd	nhyrd	nyrdd	nhyrdd	nyrde	nhyrde	nyrdde	nhyrdde	nyrdhe	nhyrdhe
851	cnyrd	cnhyrd	cnyrdd	cnhyrdd	cnyrde	cnhyrde	cnyrdde	cnhyrdde	cnyrdhe	cnhyrdhe
861	gnyrd	gnhyrd	gnyrdd	gnhyrdd	gnyrde	gnhyrde	gnyrdde	gnhyrdde	gnyrdhe	gnhyrdhe
871	knyrd	knhyrd	knyrdd	knhyrdd	knyrde	knhyrde	knyrdde	knhyrdde	knyrdhe	knhyrdhe
881	mnyrd	mnhyrd	mnyrdd	mnhyrdd	mnyrde	mnhyrde	mnyrdde	mnhyrdde	mnyrdhe	mnhyrdhe
891	nnyrd	nnhyrd	nnyrdd	nnhyrdd	nnyrde	nnhyrde	nnyrdde	nnhyrdde	nnyrdhe	nnhyrdhe
901	pnyrd	pnhyrd	pnyrdd	pnhyrdd	pnyrde	pnhyrde	pnyrdde	pnhyrdde	pnyrdhe	pnhyrdhe

...with the final total: 910