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What is the difference between meme and rumor?

meme | rumor |

As nouns the difference between meme and rumor

is that meme is (philosophy) any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another while rumor is (countable) a statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth.

As a verb rumor is

(transitive|usually|used in the passive voice) to tell a rumor about; to gossip.

meme

English

(wikipedia meme)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
  • *1976 , (Richard Dawkins), The Selfish Gene :
  • *:Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.
  • *2002 , Rita Carter, Exploring Consciousness , p. 242:
  • *:Related memes tend to form mutually supporting meme-complexes such as religions, political ideologies, scientific theories, and New Age dogmas.
  • (Internet, slang) Something that is copied and circulated online with slight adaptions, including quizzes, basic pictures, video templates etc. A meme can be a photo or artwork, usually with text, often codified with a distinct white block lettering text on the image. If a particular, standardized image is used, there is a protocol to how it should be used
  • * 2005 , "darklily", OT: Livejournal'' (discussion on Internet newsgroup ''soc.sexuality.general )
    • I do...but my journal is a mess. It's mostly filled with memes and my bitching about a house I am building.
  • *2012 , Greg Jarboe, You Tube and Video Marketing , 2nd edition:
  • *:The idea was to append Keyboard Cat to the end of a blooper video to "play" that person offstage after a mistake or gaffe, like getting the hook in the days of vaudeville. The meme became popular, Ashton Kutcher tweeted about it to more than 1 million followers, and more than 4,000 such videos have now been made.
  • *2013 , The Guardian , (headline), 8 Feb 2013:
  • *:Harlem Shake meme : the new Gangnam Style?

    • Derived terms

    * memedom * memome * memeplex * meme pool * memetic * memetic algorithm * memetic engineering * memetics

    See also

    * culturgen * email forward * replicator

    rumor

    English

    Alternative forms

    * rumour (UK, Commonwealth, International)

    Noun

  • (US, countable) A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth.
    • There's a rumor going round that he's going to get married.
  • (US, uncountable) Information or misinformation of the kind contained in such claims.
    • They say he used to be a thief, but that's just rumor .

    Synonyms

    * (piece of information) * (information) gossip, hearsay, talk, tittle-tattle

    Derived terms

    * rumor campaign * rumor has it

    Hypernyms

    * information

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (transitive, usually, used in the passive voice) To tell a rumor about; to gossip.
    • John is rumored to be next in line for a promotion.
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