4 ms·

I always wonder how many of the sayings I inherited from my father he inherited from my grandfather that died before I was born. It's like a kind of genetic mem

I always wonder how many of the sayings I inherited from my father he inherited from my grandfather that died before I was born. It's like a kind of genetic memory.

andrepd 2y ago
It's the original meaning of "meme"
- Terr_ 2y ago
  I'd characterize modern popular usage as... hmmm... "formulaic in-joke."
- cassepipe 2y ago
  It took me some time to understand you meant it came from memetic
cassepipe 2y ago
Except it's not genetic ? So I guess a cultural memory, sometimes referred to as "Memory"
- lupire 2y ago
  It's memetic memory, also called "culture"
roenxi 2y ago
It isn't as reliable as something that goes generation to generation transmission, but I think some things skip every other generation; like an organised grandparent leading to a disorganised parent who never had to think about it. Then an organised child because they learned to cover for the parent.
silisili 2y ago
I have a ton myself that my Dad would say but couldn't explain, so I don't use them as much. Two notable examples... 'What do you want, a Dewey button?' as a sarcastic way of saying 'who cares.' He didn't know why. Google says it's probably related to Thomas Dewey. 'Kitty bar the door.' An expression to mean he was going to go all out. He didn't know who kitty was or why he said it. I still have no idea its real etymology.
- eszed 2y ago
  You may not have been able to find that saying because its more-usual version is "Katy, bar the door": https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/katy-bar-the-door.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/katy-bar-the-door.html
  - silisili 2y ago
    Thanks, this completely tracks as he's infamous for mispronunciations and mixed idioms. Sadly, even clicking both links and a cursory Google search, nobody really knows where 'Katy bar the door' came from, either.
- nkurz 2y ago
  > 'Kitty bar the door.' It looks like Katy or Katie are the more common spellings in the Southern US, although Kitty seems to the standard when talking about hockey. The origin is disputed: https://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm https://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm

I always wonder how many of the sayings I inherited from my father he inherited from my grandfather that died before I was born. It's like a kind of genetic memory.

andrepd 2y ago

It's the original meaning of "meme"

Terr_ 2y ago
I'd characterize modern popular usage as... hmmm... "formulaic in-joke."
cassepipe 2y ago
It took me some time to understand you meant it came from memetic

cassepipe 2y ago

Except it's not genetic ? So I guess a cultural memory, sometimes referred to as "Memory"

lupire 2y ago
It's memetic memory, also called "culture"

roenxi 2y ago

It isn't as reliable as something that goes generation to generation transmission, but I think some things skip every other generation; like an organised grandparent leading to a disorganised parent who never had to think about it. Then an organised child because they learned to cover for the parent.

silisili 2y ago

I have a ton myself that my Dad would say but couldn't explain, so I don't use them as much. Two notable examples... 'What do you want, a Dewey button?' as a sarcastic way of saying 'who cares.' He didn't know why. Google says it's probably related to Thomas Dewey. 'Kitty bar the door.' An expression to mean he was going to go all out. He didn't know who kitty was or why he said it. I still have no idea its real etymology.

eszed 2y ago
You may not have been able to find that saying because its more-usual version is "Katy, bar the door": https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/katy-bar-the-door.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/katy-bar-the-door.html
- silisili 2y ago
  Thanks, this completely tracks as he's infamous for mispronunciations and mixed idioms. Sadly, even clicking both links and a cursory Google search, nobody really knows where 'Katy bar the door' came from, either.
nkurz 2y ago
> 'Kitty bar the door.' It looks like Katy or Katie are the more common spellings in the Southern US, although Kitty seems to the standard when talking about hockey. The origin is disputed: https://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm https://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm