To answer your questions
Dwarf, dwarves, dweeb - but there are a
lot of other words in the dictionary, including dwang and the names Dwight and Dwayne.
On to the more important things,
Welcome to the forum! 
For a great 'getting started' bit look at
this thread that
AirAmp did for a Tutorial Contest.
There's also
this thread that's stickied at the top of the main forum.
Good luck and enjoy the journey!