WORD OF THE WEEK #62 –  meme

Memes are to culture what genes are to life. Just as biological evolution is driven by the survival of the fittest genes in the gene pool, cultural evolution may be driven by the most successful memes.— Richard Dawkins

Meme is a word that I have seen popping up all over the place.  I didn’t have a clue what it meant nor how to pronounce it. No doubt I’m aging myself.

Webster defines it as an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.  Also as an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media

“The band encouraged fans to make memes to advertise the U.S. release of their EP.”

“The grumpy cat meme frowned its way onto the Internet in September 2012 and never turned its dissatisfied head back. Since then, the image of the cranky cat has grown more and more popular in direct proportion to appearing less and less impressed by fame.”— Anastasia Thrift

It is pronounced like “mean” with an “m”. 

Although Webster says it is a noun, I have seen it used frequently as an adjective:

 “The exhibition seeks to give a sense not only of Holmes’s origins but of the real-world milieu in which Conan Doyle set him and of his memetic spread through the culture.— Sam Leith

It’s also used frequently in the financial markets to describe a type of stock.

“Her focus on meme-worthy investments and her ubiquitous presence on Twitter and financial news channels have thrust her alongside market influencers”….WSJ

“Robinhood Markets has profited off the meme stock movement. Now the company is looking more like a meme stock itself.” WSJ

In financial markets it describes (adjective) certain kinds of companies that are speculative investments and generate little or no profit but have the potential to change the world through “disruptive innovation.”  Tesla is a prime example.

Meme is another great word for Word of the Week.  It is becoming popular.  It is short and simple and will make you appear to be intelligent, but not pretentious…however please pronounce it correctly. To hear the correct pronunciation, go to the following link:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme

Interesting Word:  Metaverse.

I am not including Metaverse (capitalized) as a “Word of the Week” because I have read the definition and then re-read it…then re-read it again and still don’t have a clue what it means. It has been said however that it is the next huge technological leap.  I’ll just let you read what Wikipedia has to say.  You can take it from there.

“The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space including the sum of all virtual worlds and the Internet. It may contain derivatives or copies of the real world, but it is distinct from augmented reality. The word “metaverse” is made up of the prefix “meta” (meaning beyond) and the stem “verse” (a backformation from “universe”); the term is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe”

What’s that?

A previous “Word of the Week” revisited:

ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”

Quote of the Week:

“My mother always used to say that the older you get the better you get, unless, of course, you’re a banana”  Betty White

Everyone loves Betty….how could you not? (that’s a rhetorical question)

With a television career spanning over 8 decades, She has worked longer in that medium than anyone else in the television industry, for which she was awarded a Guinness World Record. She has received eight Emmy Awards in various categories.

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

Sixty-two weeks of great words

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2-   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent – habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9- truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting. “We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant.  “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories.  “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.”
48 – fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable/  “The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded asfungible.”
49 – filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. “They stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster”.
50 – hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. “They battled for hegemony in Asia.”
51 – de facto – being such in effect though not formally recognized or contrary to established law “a de facto state of war” for a war that has not been officially declared.
52 – blockchain – an open, distributed leger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.
53 – bête noire – A person or thing one particularly dislikes or is strongly detested. “The abuse of women was a bête noire for Lincoln.”
54 – evince -“to constitute outward evidence of….to display clearly: reveal. “He evinced a depraved mind.”
55 – virago – a loud overbearing woman.  Domineering, violent, or bad tempered. “Democrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican virago.”
56 – metonym –  a name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. “Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the US.”
57 – ennui – a noun meaning a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Boredom. ” The drama is about ennui, malaise and the conflicts they create”. AHN wee
58 – felicitous is an adjective and is defined as  well chosen or suited to the circumstances such as “a felicitous phrase”.
59 – Imprimatur – a noun meaning sanction or approval. “He gave the book his imprimatur.”
60 – fiat – An authoritative determination or decree. “He runs the company by fiat.”
61 – salient – meaning most notable or important.  Of notable significance. “It succinctly covered all the salient points of the case.”
62 – meme – an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.  “The band encouraged fans to make memes to advertise the U.S. release of their EP.”