meme
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meme
A piece of content, often an image, video, or text with a humorous character, that spreads quickly across the internet and is copied and modified by users.
Das Bild von der mürrischen Katze wurde zu einem weltberühmten Meme.
The picture of the grumpy cat became a world-famous meme.
In the context of the internet, a meme is often 'geteilt' (shared), 'gepostet' (posted), or 'erstellt' (created). When a meme becomes very popular, you say it 'geht viral' (goes viral).
Hast du das neue Meme über die Konferenz schon gesehen? Ich habe es sofort geteilt.
Have you seen the new meme about the conference yet? I shared it right away.
This meaning of the word comes from internet culture and is mainly used in everyday language and digital media. In formal or academic texts, it is less common unless the topic is internet culture itself.
Die Politikerin versuchte, mit einem Meme junge Wähler zu erreichen.
The politician tried to reach young voters with a meme.
You can recognize the cultural-theory meaning from the context. It appears in academic texts about sociology, evolution, or communication theory. The biologist Richard Dawkins is often mentioned as the originator of the concept.
Dawkins beschreibt ein Meme als kulturelles Gegenstück zum Gen.
Dawkins describes a meme as the cultural counterpart to the gene.
joke
'der Witz' and 'das Meme' can both be funny and are often shared with others. However, a 'Witz' is usually a short spoken or written story with a punchline. A 'Meme' is typical of the internet: often an image, video, or short text that is copied, shared, and modified. They can be confused because both carry humor. If you are telling something, 'Witz' is more natural. If it is about an image or viral content online, 'Meme' fits better.
Dieses Meme passt perfekt zu unserer Prüfungssituation.
This meme fits our exam situation perfectly.
Mein Vater erzählte beim Essen einen alten Witz aus seiner Jugend.
My father told an old joke from his youth during dinner.