"We need a name for the new replicator,……" — Richard Dawkins

"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. 'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to 'memory', or to the French word même. It should be pronounced to rhyme with 'cream'."

— Richard Dawkins

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More Abbreviate Quotes

This quote is filed under Abbreviate Quotes, one of 7 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:

The Australian accent is sort of like going down a step in smartness, you could say, because you guys pronounce… — Callan McAuliffe
The music aids the message, it's there to punctuate and abbreviate and shape the silence — Saul Williams
What this means is that we shouldn't abbreviate the truth but rather get a new method of presentation. — Edward Tufte
I find I journalize too tediously. Let me try to abbreviate. — James Boswell
His life, measured in space and time, will take up a mere few lines, which my ignorance will abbreviate further. — Jorge Luis Borges
Life used to move much more quickly when I was a girl. We needed to abbreviate just to keep up. — Gabrielle Zevin

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