“Geek” tops the list for 2013 because of its “positive makeover”， a spokeswoman for Collins Dictionary told The Scotsman newspaper. The word originally appeared in the 19th century as a variant(变形) of “geek”， meaning “a simpleton (傻瓜)”. “In the 1980s，the word still had a negative meaning，referring to someone who was boring and socially awkward.However，from the late 20th century，due to the increasing importance of technology in society，the word has come to mean a clever，switched­-on and cool person，” noted The Scotsman.