Thread: Is there a word for "nerd" or "geek" in Russian?

Originally Posted by xdns

I don't think it's obsolete, despite it was popular in USSR

Well, yes, I hastened to draw such conclusion. БотАник, of course, isn’t an obsolete word. But you can hear it mostly among the older generation. Nowadays young people commonly use contracted forms (бОтан, ботАн). And бОтан is much more likely to be heard instead of ботАн.