Another post from 2012! But it's still true!
Here are my notes from 2012:
students get the gazebo joke
nerd students get the same cultural references, old nerds too
IT worker quotes monty python
This was basically me noticing that a small number of my students "get" the nerd humor that was funny back in high school.
The gazebo joke is a roleplaying joke from DND. I sometimes make it as a little side joke when I'm talking about how tests can be biased towards different groups ("... like attacking a gazebo"). And like one or two people will laugh and I'll be like I see you, my DND players, and they'll be like guilty, ma'am. This is from the 1970s! But we knew of it in the 80s and 90s and a subset of my students have known it for the past decade and a half or more.
There are lots of similar nerd culture references-- I can quote Rocky Horror Picture Show or pretty much any Monty Python sketch or Monty Python movie (and I suppose one of the young IT students must have quoted one of these at me back 11 years ago), and my nerds will get me. Ditto Star Trek. These things don't go away.
Heck, I can even mention that dead puppies aren't much fun, and most of the class will look at me like I'm crazy and a small number will be like, dead puppies. Or I could mention fish heads fish heads, roly poly fish heads and they'll silently mouth, "eat them up yum."
And there's NEW nerd stuff too, but it's not just for the Youths. I am well aware of Undertale and the newer Deltarune and Stardew Valley and Portal and Marvel and on and on and on.
What universal nerd culture are you aware of? Are there other cultures (musicals?) that cut across generations that you're a fan of?
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