This is why I joined this community

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipOP
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    4 months ago

    The Oxford dictionary is made by a bunch of old English nerds. They couldn’t find a meme if it was glued to a telephone pole

    • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      That’s basically straight from Richard Dawkins, who literally invented the term like 50 years ago.

      A meme is to information ideas what a gene is to genetic information.

      Edit: my word choice was bugging me.

    • andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun
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      4 months ago

      Yeah I’m not going to let the English language be shaped or solidified by people who have dedicated their lives to studying and deeply understanding language!

    • other_cat@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      To your credit, language is indeed an ever-evolving thing and what words mean what is not a constant, particularly in this age of internet.

      Point against you, is that means that a ‘meme’ is largely whatever the majority of people think it is.

    • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      You’re totally wrong!

      They could find a meme if it were glued to a telephone pole. They’d just need a team of undergraduates, semanticians, and a box of jelly babies to fully assess the nature of the item before declaring it a meme or not.