#A few moments later definition update#

This book is, not so simply, a collection of memes in essay form …, written by self-proclaimed off-planet journalist Rheingold. Memes are, simply put, ideas that catch on. Here's the kind of evidence that paved the way for the word's dictionary debut: Although Dawkins had coined the word in a 1976 book, it was more than 20 years before the accumulation of examples of the word in use demonstrated that it was a fully established term in the language.

#A few moments later definition update#

This dictionary defines Dawkins' sense of meme as 'an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.' The word wasn't entered until 1998, when it earned a spot in an update of the Tenth Edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation. It should be pronounced to rhyme with 'cream'.ĭawkins went on to describe what exactly the word was intended to refer to:Įxamples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.

If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to 'memory,' or to the French word même. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. 'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'. We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. In Dawkins' conception of the term, it is 'a unit of cultural transmission'-the cultural equivalent of a gene: Meme isn't new: it dates to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene, where it functioned with a meaning other than its current most common one. Send us feedback about these examples.You're right, this needs more cats. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'have a few minutes/moments.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Vulture, 7 July 2021 Muhammad will facilitate panelists’ conversation panelists also will have a few minutes to speak uninterrupted before the discussion wraps up, Brophy said. 2021 The details get a little complicated, but basically - the chefs are paired into teams (because there’s an odd number, Dawn is paired with alum Brooke Williamson) and have a few minutes to go into a pitch-black room and sample a dish. 2022 Teachers often only have a few minutes to eat some food before the next class, so having a variety of snacks to choose from at any time of the day is helpful. 2022 Don't linger after a meeting and ask to have a few minutes afterward.

Jamie Carter, Forbes, 5 July 2021 Then screen your calls and talk with your mom when you aren’t stressed and have a few minutes to spend in conversation. Expert Panel, Forbes, The crew will then have a few minutes of weightlessness at this apogee and the chance to look at the curvature of Earth from space before a Mach 3 re-entry to Earth to land on a runway at Spaceport America. Recent Examples on the Web Creating time on the calendar (and even within each meeting) to have a few minutes to check in with your employees is crucial.