The pronunciation of the word 'meme'

[strange_complex]

I know where I stand on this, but I want to find out what the majority of the people on my friends list think.

I also haven't yet done a poll since getting a paid account, so it's about time I tried it out.

[Poll #374257]

Comments

[captainlucy.livejournal.com]

The origination of these, as I have been told it, was as a quick way of posting up prsonal information about a variety of subjects. The title originally given to these was "Me Me" (as in Me talking about Me), which became condensed to "MeMe". It should properly be pronounced as two separate syllables.

Just my two-bob worth. :)

[angeoverhere.livejournal.com]

I always assumed it was 'meme' as in the Richard Dawkins sense!? (i.e. like genes, but cultural).. Not sure which book he coined it in, but it's covered in more depth in Susan Blackmore's 'The Meme Machine'.

In general, I think the idea of memes is a pretty dodgy concept, but it does seem to work pretty well on LJ (stuff can be copied more reliably than in culture normally).

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Actually, I suppose on this basis, any LJ entry qualifies as a meme, because they are all us talking about ourselves. It doesn't really do enough to indicate what is actually different about a meme as compared to a normal entry.

I was getting to like the 'me on me' idea, but having this thought has put me off again a bit now. I guess I only like it if it is subsumed within my preferred theory of the Dawkins origin.