 Bucholtz uses the concepts of positive identity practices (linguistic and social behaviors that confirm and reflect an intragroup identity) and negative identity practices (linguistic and social behaviors that distance individuals from other groups) to show how Nerds construct their community of practice.Her research suggests that the Nerd identity is "hyperwhite", characterized linguistically by more infrequent use of Valley girl speech and slang than other social categories; by a preference for Greco-Latinate over Germanic words; by the use of the discourse practice of punning; and by adherence to conventions of "super-standard English," or excessively formal English.Additionally, Bucholtz found that the speech of Nerds often included consonant-cluster simplification, phonological reduction of unstressed vowels, careful and precise enunciation, and reading style speech (wherein Nerds pronounce words more closely to how they're spelled).