I was discussing the presidential election with my 12-year-old granddaughter, who was impressively well-informed and articulate.
I said I liked Sen. Bernie Sanders, but it bothered me that his campaign speeches and debating points too often consisted of angrily shouting his Facebook memes, which I pronounced “mehms,” as in “O”-less “memos.”
For those not as social-media-savvy as I am, a meme is kind of a digital postcard; in Sanders’ case, he’s usually pictured with wild eyes, hair flying to and fro and index finger jabbing as one of his sayings is quoted.
These are bromides such as, “Education should be a right, not a privilege.” Or, “I believe in a society where all people do well, not just a handful of billionaires.”
You know, deep thoughts that make you want to scream, “No s—-!”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also posts lots of memes, but she isn’t as popular as Sanders among some on the Democratic left because her hair is as well-groomed and her jabbing finger as well-manicured as a Wall Street banker.
Anyway, I explained to my granddaughter that while I see a place in political campaigns for platitudes that inspire true believers, I feel Sanders sometimes falls short of fleshing them out with workable policy plans.
Her sweet little face stared silently at me for a long time with a perplexed look.
She hadn’t said whom she supports for president, and I thought maybe I had offended her candidate. Or perhaps I was talking over her head.
Finally she spoke, asking, “Do you mean ‘meems’?”
“Oh,” I said. “Is that how it’s pronounced?”
She laughed and laughed and laughed. “Oh, Zeyde, you’re so funny when you try to be cool,” she said. Then she laughed and laughed some more.
I don’t take anybody’s word for anything, coming from the old school of journalism that holds, “If your mother says she loves you, get a second source.”
So I Googled the proper pronunciation of “meme” — and found LOLs all over the Internet directed at fools who pronounced it other than as my granddaughter suggested.
National League home run king Bryce Harper was the butt of widespread jokes for pronouncing it “may-may” in a TV interview.
An online survey further supported my granddaughter, as 78.7 percent thought meme should be pronounced “meem,” 9.8 percent thought “meh-meh” and 2.8 percent thought “may-may.”
I guess my “mehm” was among the 8 percent of “others” considered too stupid to be displayed on a hip website.
In my research, I found a comment from a lady in Istanbul who said it’s the Turkish word for “breast.”
If you ever intend to go to Turkey and raise the subject, I suggest you first find out by which pronunciation.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
