how do you pronounce the word 'meme' and can you say it in public without feeling stupid?

i pronounce it as me-me and assumed that was right, considering i never really hear anyone else say it. and then i have started to hear marc maron off the comedy and the podcasts say 'meem' and have no one correct him, despite talking to assholes who actually create them.

to say either outloud makes me die inside just a little but it is a word we need, if only because it shortens 'did you see that thing on the internet that everyone is talking about since the last big internet joke' to one word, and the less i have to say the better.

Pretentious, meme?

I've always thought of it as "meem," but don't have much of an occasion to say it aloud..

i think it really is pronounced "meeem". at least thats how they said it on The Big Bang Theory.

to answer the second part, no

"Meem" because it was supposed to be analogous to gene?

Or perhaps I'm misremembering because the whole origin of the term in Dawkins was pretty BS to start with, so I'm glad it's reached the proper level for what it's ended up meaning.

have always said and heard "meem"

Yeah, meem.

memay

not really

'meem' to rhyme with 'theme'. i have never said it in public.

It never occurred to me that it was anything but "meem." (Although I can imagine erring in favor of the French pronunciation "mehm.")

i have never said it in public.

Same here, I'd be embarrassed to

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/Roadrunner.gif

"meem". i think i've only ever had to say it to other geeks so it's not really a source of feeling stupid.

do ppl feel similarly antsy abt saying 'trope' out loud to others?

mémé

do ppl feel similarly antsy abt saying 'trope' out loud to others?

Never said that either, closest I've come is 'tripe'

xp - grandmother?

seen it many times on youtube and the like (even a bbc article) pronounced as meem. I always assumed it was meh meh

"Meem." And I don't think of it as a particularly weird/pretentious/geeky word -- especially now that "Internet meme" has become a catch-all term for viral videos, animated gifs, trendy blogs, etc. -- so I've used it in conversation without thinking twice.

Talking about the internet is like thumping motherfuckers about architecture.

a good question is, what was the first internet meme??

either had to be "Hamsterdance" or the video "Tunak Tunak Tun". both were created around 1999 but I'm not sure which one blew up first

I knew it was pronounced meem before I knew the term was used in internet-land so I never had this problem. My wife was pronouncing it memm for a bit until I told her.

"no love it's plus ca change plus ca meem chose"

"Meem" because it was supposed to be analogous to gene?

This. And also, I guess, since it was coined by a British dude, it would rhyme with how "-eme" is usually pronounced in English, e.g., "theme," "extreme," "scheme."

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/3285249225_462152ed7f.jpg

^ inventor of the Gizmo and LOL

It is definitely "meem", and I have no idea why you'd feel weird about using it in public.

Because it usually is about things that are really fucking lame? I dunno. I feel embarrassed for Rebecca Black, so I'm gonna feel embarrassed talking about her too and carrying on the conversation.

"meem" but I don't think I actually ever said it in public once

pretty sure "thing" will suffice in 99.9% of non-meta conversations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqK9M7YV71w

"Meem," no problem using it in public. My daughter sometimes uses it to describe things that don't quite measure up to the level of a meme -- a mini-meme at best.

if i pronounced it "me-me" i would also be embarrassed to talk about memes in public

a good question is, what was the first internet meme??

either had to be "Hamsterdance" or the video "Tunak Tunak Tun". both were created around 1999 but I'm not sure which one blew up first

― frogbs, Monday, 16 January 2012 15:11 (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

dancing baby?

if you go to dictionary.com it will give you the phonetic pronunciation of a word, along with an computerized audio pronunciation (click the sound icon directly to the right of the word in question)

just sayin'!

i have mixed feelings on this... explaining an internet meme to someone irl can be kind of weird, but i have no problem talking about memes with a group of ppl that are aware of memes

Mm, yeah. I guess the thing for me is that as a term, the internet-specific use is secondary to me. Or rather, the internet-specific use is a descendant of the original term.

if i pronounced it "me-me" i would also be embarrassed to talk about memes in public

― tyga mother (J0rdan S.), Monday, 16 January 2012 10:28 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha otm, i was so relieved when i found out the correct pronunciation. since then i haven't found any discussion of memes too painful irl, awareness of memes is one of the least embarassing dimensions of being an internet nerd since basically everyone interacts with them on some level

My wife was pronouncing it memm for a bit until I told her.

― The Eyeball Of Hull (Colonel Poo), Monday, January 16, 2012 10:11 AM (19 minutes ago)

I, like mrs. poo, pronounced it with a silent e, like the first syllable in memory, at least in my head because I don't think I ever said it aloud to anyone

then I found out it was pronounced meem and I don't say it aloud or in my head anymore because it is a terrible terrible word

dancing baby?

yeah, wiki says this was created in 1996 so it has to be the first

still, a list of memes from 1996-2000 would be fairly interesting. i wonder how many of them i'd even remember these days.

First internet meme according to Know Your Meme:

http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/6215-the-first-internet-meme---coke-machines-attached-to-the-internet

Yeah I was gonna say, no f'in way was the first internet meme from the late 90s, u noobs (not that I actually used the internet myself until the late 90s)

yeah probably not the first meme per se...more like the first truly viral video/website/whatever. it would have to be from the late 90's b/c few people were actually online until like 1997 or so

I think what frogbs is asking for is the first meme of the late 90s

It is definitely "meem", and I have no idea why you'd feel weird about using it in public.

― emil.y, Monday, January 16, 2012 7:18 AM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Surely the very first meme of the interwebs was:

SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

(another meme so old it's lost its original meaning)

I would submit 'ate my balls' for general worldwide attention

rarely use it to talk about "internet memes" though

sure, because it's not 1998 anymore but you couldn't swing a .jpg in the 90s without it eating someone else's balls - probably *even* the dancing baby's.

that's not why i don't talk much about the Goo Goo Dolls

xpost: you named yourself "rustic italian flatbread" once

how the hell does meme sound stupid? Now, Me-me that sounds stupid

Dawkins may have been caluqued mime on gene but it also ultimately derives from the same word as mime (incidentally pronounced 'meem' in French), the Ancient Greek word 'mimos' which then led to mīmēma, "something imitated".

It may sound like baby talk but it has a perfectly respectable lineage.

French sounds like baby talk and isn't manly for rustic italian panini

But Greek "meemayma" sounds manly as fuck?

it produces cognitive dissonance for me to think that otherwise intelligent people use it to describe a sophisticated concept.

Dude, your cognitive dissonance is your problem, don't drag anyone else into it.

WmC otm,

also, saying you choose to use the incorrect pronunciation because the correct one sounds like "baby talk" is the exact same level of intellectual argument as people who stockpile incandescent light bulbs because using halogen/cfl ones makes them feel like a faggy liberal

had no idea this thread was better than the racist thread today.

What dawg, that is not even the same thing at all. I'm talking about the beauty of language here. Aesthetic appreciation of the code that we use to relate to one another as human beings! I'm totally down with pigtail bulbs.

Just said the word "meme" out loud and some lady stuck her tit in my mouth.

xpost: ok dawg, i guess you're not pronouncing it wrong after all, you're just "appreciating your own aesthetic".

Uh-oh. Said "gif" with a soft 'g' and shit myself.

Just said the word "meme" out loud and some lady stuck her tit in my mouth.

i know what i'll be doing tomorrow then

http://img169.imagevenue.com/loc647/th_69170_Tanya_Memme22041216_122_647lo.jpg

For some reason, my wife pronounces this "mem" like "them". Still haven't figured out why though.

french "même" maybe?

meme brulee

It's such an exotic, philosophical word! It would make sense for it to sound French.

Mem's the word

"Mem" just remind me of Cartman talking to his mother.

meem i read the selfish gene freshman year of college and used it a lot for a year or so

Dude, it was coined by Dawkins, not Derrida or Louis IV or something. He's British, you are lucky it's not memesy wheemesey.

meme is a good tech gadget name.

would you rather buy meme or zune?

like you pronounce 'mermen' but without the r and the n

merMAN

www.mermen.net/

Thurman Merman

Dude, it was coined by Dawkins, not Derrida or Louis IV or something. He's British, you are lucky it's not memesy wheemesey.

― mh, Thursday, January 19, 2012 8:30 PM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well he's passed on now and we should be able to do what we want, anyway.

I pronounce "nukular" to rhyme with "toejam," why because I should be able to do what I want.

uma merman

I ain't got the Do Re Meme.

Well he's passed on now and we should be able to do what we want, anyway.

I believe you're thinking of Christopher Hitchens, noted argumentarian

; )

Memesy wheemsy!

Let's talk real, guys. Americans say "ruff" when roof clearly has two Os.

we say rooo-fff or ruh-ff here! It is interchangeable, like saying roo-t or ruhh-t

One of my close friends wrote a thesis about memes. It's not embarrassing to talk about them IRL...

I don't entirely understand why you would pronounce it as "mem" unless you sincerely believed that it was a French word (like "creme").

Again, I would wager that the most common English words that end in "-eme" are

extreme
scheme
supreme
theme

Why would "meme" deviate from these?

― Girl I want to take you to a JBR (jaymc), Thursday, January 19, 2012 3:01 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

easy; because 1) the french word 'meme' which i at first assumed was the derivation, although i thought it seemed a bit weird. Plus i cant think of any examples of words where the suffix is normally appended by several letters is appended by a single one, it reads incomplete

i pronounce it 'meem' obv but i can see why ppl would think its pronounced 'mehm'

me-me is just lol tho

I pronounce it "may-hem"

this is the worst thread on ilx

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/graphics/news3/FirstAmongEquals.jpg

why is this a thread

this is the worst thread on ilx

― junior dada (thomp), Saturday, January 21, 2012 6:12 AM Bookmark

Like have you read only three threads, ever?

you're not making it better

http://hostbebe.tripod.com/eeyore.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScyVd-hXNk

So I guess I was wrong to pronounce it "mame" this whole time.

Dude, it was coined by Dawkins, not Derrida or Louis IV or something. He's British, you are lucky it's not memesy wheemesey.

also it's supposed to sound like "gene"

Like Mene Gene, from WWF! That's how I'll remember it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xTqaTmAbg