Longtime “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek made a big mistake last week.

Contestant Susan Cole of Bowie, Maryland, told Trebek her favorite kind of music was nerdcore hip-hop — “People who identify as nerdy rapping about the things they love, video games, science fiction, having a hard time meeting romantic partners,” she said. “It’s really catchy and fun.”

Nerds have caught on in the mainstream.

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“Losers, in other words?” Trebek quipped.

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Nerdcore rappers responded in outrage on social media. Some even sent Trebek a response via rap:

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Others nerds challenged Trebek to a fight.

“You wanna go, Trebek? YOU WANNA GO?” MC Frontalot responded on Twitter.

Some unmentionable words and phrases also starting trending on Twitter as well.

What Trebek didn’t realize is being a nerd has evolved into being cool — at least, to some people.

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It didn’t happen overnight.

In the 1950s, they were called drips and squares. It was not until the ’80s and ’90s that they began to be celebrated in movies such as “Revenge of the Nerds,” “She’s Out of Control,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “She’s All That,” and through television series including “Family Matters” and “Beverly Hills 90210.”

Nerds have formed their own cultures and subcultures, and some even have caught on in the mainstream. Comic book and anime nerds now flock by the thousands to Comic Cons, filling convention centers nationwide. Cosplay, short for costume play, has been embraced by often attractive women looking for creative ways to have fun and celebrate their favorite obsession.

Many hipsters are merely nerds with obsessive nonconformist tastes and an elitist attitude.

Comic book collecting was once seen as a fully nerdy hobby — but comic book heroes such as the Avengers, Superman, and Batman have been brought to life in movies and played by top stars. Similarly, the narrative of nerds channeling their inner super hero when needed most to save the world has come to life with Peter Parker of Spider-Man and Clark Kent, the alter ego of Superman.

The video game industry was always seen as a nerd haven, but popularity and profits have soared as nerds become trendsetters in technological innovation and game design.

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It was Trekkies, charter members of the nerd set, who turned Captain James T. Kirk’s handheld communicator into the first flip phone — called “StarTAC” — in 1996. Later, they converted Star Trek’s imagined future of portable digital storage into floppy disks and USB drives.

Nerds mocked in high school for their nonconformist ideas and high intellects have gone on to change the world with technology — and make everyone’s life better in return.

They gave us the internet, the rise of Silicon Valley, the swashbuckling billionaires such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Apple’s Steve Jobs, Craigslist’s Craig Newmark, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

As a result, nerds are finally starting to get the girls. Snapchat founder Evan Spiegal recently got engaged to model Miranda Kerr, who was previously married to Hollywood star Orlando Bloom and allegedly had a fling with Justin Bieber.

Last year, tech titan Robert Smith married Playboy playmate Hope Dworaczyk. “Harry Potter” actress Emma Watson was seen earlier this year dating tech entrepreneur William “Mack” Knight.

Then there’s the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., in which geeky journalists get to ogle invited Hollywood celebs up close, known as the “nerd prom.”

Kevin McCarthy, a popular movie reviewer, also publishes “Nerd Tears,” a website in which he geeks out over celebrities in interviews. Actor Robert Downey Jr. told McCarthy he “loves the nerd tears. Lives for the nerd tears.” The film buff makes his geekiness endearing and adorable to viewers.

Now couples celebrate their nerd love and “Star Wars” obsessions with themed wedding dances, and their videos become viral sensations.

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Nerds gradually have evolved from socially unacceptable to trendsetting billionaires. They’re responsible for much of the economic growth we have. And today, many Americans take pride in being considered a nerd and embracing nerd culture.

Someone needs to tell Alex Trebek that “loser” doesn’t seem to be the right word anymore.