meme

plural memes

1. originallyAny unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.

   Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.

   1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

   3 more examples

   For most of the population, the media system is, I think, a different one. It's not just the case that it tries to entertain them. It tries to entertain them through memes, which will intensify attitudes that support the interests of elites.

   1988, Noam Chomsky, Massey Lectures (Necessary Illusions)

   Related memes tend to form mutually supporting meme-complexes such as religions, political ideologies, scientific theories, and New Age dogmas.

   2002, Rita Carter, Exploring Consciousness, page 242

   The original Hobson and Jobson stock comic characters have died out as a meme, as has the application of their names to the Muharram in India.

   2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At ‘Hobson-Jobson’”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 67

   Synonyms: culturgen

2. InternetMedia, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, such as basic pictures, video templates, etc.First known use 1993

   He posted a meme that went viral within a few hours on social media.

   5 more examples

   He stuck memes on the wall to campaign for the position of President.

   Not everyone saw the comparison to Nazis as a "meme" - most people on the Net, as elsewhere, had never heard of "memes" or "memetics." But now that we're living in an increasingly information-aware culture, it's time for that to change.

   1994 January 10, Mike Godwin, “Meme, Counter-meme”, in Wired

   I do...but my journal is a mess. It's mostly filled with memes and my bitching about a house I am building.

   2005, darklily, “OT: Livejournal”, in soc.sexuality.general (Usenet)

   The idea was to append Keyboard Cat to the end of a blooper video to "play" that person offstage after a mistake or gaffe, like getting the hook in the days of vaudeville. The meme became popular, Ashton Kutcher tweeted about it to more than 1 million followers, and more than 4,000 such videos have now been made.

   2012, Greg Jarboe, You Tube and Video Marketing, 2nd edition

   This latest Internet meme is shocking. But most shocking of all is the person who started the meme isn't a person at all, but a cat who seems to have no regard for people's safety.

   2012 March 28, Trey Parker, “Faith Hilling”, in South Park, season 16, episode 3, spoken by Reporter

3. InternetA specific instance of a meme, such as an image macro or a video, often with humorous superimposed text.

   I'm always posting memes on the groupchat.

   1 more example

   This meme generator lets you make your own memes by adding a caption to existing images, or by uploading your own image.

4. InternetderogatorySomething which is deceptive; a trick, a ruse.

   I can't believe I fell for the bulking meme.

   1 more example

   It's a meme degree, you know. Good luck getting a job from that.

5. InternetderogatorySomething not to be taken seriously; a joke.

   Jogging is a meme.

   1 more example

   It's a meme degree, you know. Good luck getting a job from that.

6. InternetA work produced and shared in response to a prompt or suggestion within an online group.

   kink meme

   1 more example

   anon meme

present singular third person memes · participle present memeing · participle present meming · participle past memed · past memed

1. InternetintransitiveTo create and use humorous memes.

   One axiom commonly seen on /pol/ is "The Left Can't Meme"; in other words, left-wing meme jokes aren't funny.

   2018, Eric W. Saeger, Russian Nazi Troll Bots!

   1 more example

   Yesterday afternoon four kids went to the hospital for injuries resulting from memeing in front of a local cafe. Faith Hilling, Taylor Swifting. These are things that will get you killed!

   2012 March 28, Trey Parker, “Faith Hilling”, in South Park, season 16, episode 3, spoken by Lamont

2. InternettransitiveTo turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve a goal in real life.

   David Moyes succeeding Slaven Bilić as West Ham United manager is being memed into existence by the internet, Football Burp understands.

   2017 November 6, “David Moyes to West Ham “memed into existence by the internet””, in Football Burp, retrieved 02 Dec 2017

   3 more examples

   Scott Greer, a deputy editor of the Daily Caller, tweeted, “Cernovich memed #SickHillary into reality. Never doubt the power of memes.”

   2016 October 31, Andrew Marantz, “Trolls for Trump”, in The New Yorker, retrieved 02 Dec 2017

   “Succession’s language is so specific, unique and captivating that nearly every line is worthy of being ‘memed’, even if it’s just somebody saying ‘fuck off’ or ‘bad tweet!’” she says.

   2022 September 22, Jess Thomson, “‘Becoming a meme totally helps a show’: is TV being written with epic gifs in mind?”, in The Guardian

   In my experience the films that typically get memed are either really terrible (Madame Web), so huge that they’re everywhere (Barbie), or have a cast stacked with familiar faces so the memes cast a wide net for potential sharing.

   2024 March 5, Gabriella Paiella, quoting Messineo, “Why ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Became One of the Most Memed Films of the Year”, in GQ

   Synonyms: memeify

3. InternetbroadlyintransitiveTo joke around.

   actually, it wasn't my mental functioning. i'm just meming.

   2004 May 17, you, “Truth vs. Lies”, in alt.slack (Usenet)

   2 more examples

   “[P]ewdiepie is, once again, doing exactly what neo-nazis want,” Kotaku reporter Nathan Grayson commented on Twitter in response to the incident. “[W]hether he’s just meming or he ascribes to these values, it doesn’t matter. [W]hat matters is that he normalizes these ideas as jokes on THE platform where kids increasingly get their first exposure to the world at large.”

   2018 December 13, Aja Romano, “YouTube’s most popular user amplified anti-Semitic rhetoric. Again.”, in Vox

   Some of his fellow fascists thought he was just “meming and pranking”; others dismissed it as “some autistic phase.”

   2019, Rachel Monroe, Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession, →ISBN

plural memes

1. informalterm of endearmentGranny; nana.

   Then there was my Meme, my father's mother. She was one of the most wonderful, loving, craziest, funniest people I ever had in my life.

   2014, Sarah O'Malley, Touching the Edge of Heaven, page 3

   1 more example

   When my parents got a divorce my dad washed his hands of my mom and me. He just pretended neither she nor I existed. If it weren't for my Meme, I would have lost all contact with the Atwood family after the divorce.

   2011, David G. Atwood II, Into Hell I Rode, page 32