They get Varun, the stammering, nerdy guy to be their roommate.

"I'll never forget the mild-mannered, nervous, nerdy guy who worked at my first job," writes Lisa Zaslow of Manhattan.

"He was this nerdy guy who was just a little bit out there," Chan told me.

A print ad that will run heavily next year, for instance, features a page from a yearbook in which all the pictures show the same nerdy guy.

She had an image of a nerdy guy doing birthday parties.

A nerdy guy, Max, helps her get her money back, after which Naomi develops feelings for him.

Matt's partner in the side conversation, a spectacled nerdy little guy of five-four on a tall day, returned to his seat looking a little defiant.

"It's a weird alliance between this popular and this nerdy guy," said Mr. Haynes.