I interpreted the “stricter” definition as just being more intense. Like its only used to describe someone who reads constantly, and knows nearly everything about literature. Or someone who is almost obsessively studying math, or chess theory. Or someone who is very interested in numerous “nerdy” things.
Maybe that’s not what they meant, I’m not sure. You’re right, their wording is kind of ambiguous.
I don’t think they mean it to be negative. I assumed they mean its used more loosely now and has lost some of the meaning it used to have as a result. They can’t find a more fitting word for what they want to say, so they just specify they mean the stricter definition of the word nerd.
This sums up my experience with windows pretty well
T-mobile apps are almost the entire reason I rooted my phone
Every natural language is all of those things except used everywhere.
Maybe you should upscale it with ai