<p>A fad is 时尚；一时流行的狂热, that is an idea or behavior spread by &quot;meme&quot; on the internet, so I consider it is a &quot;罔潮&quot; or &quot;罔流&quot;. But both terms seem too old-styled and too formal, so maybe simply call it 迷迷, 取其既新奇又引人响往 - 迷一, 且時而撲朔迷離, 逗人深思進而模仿 - 迷二.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-12T19:44:32.280Z
2021-12-12T20:32:42.143Z
2021-12-12T20:32:42.143Z
r13
<p>Looks like it is translated as a loanword, in the same way as humour:</p>
<p>模因;<br />
模仿传递行为(通过模仿等非遗传方式传递的行为)</p>
<p>It even has a science!</p>
<p>模因论揭示了人类文化传播的规律。<br />
Memetics reveals the Law of Human Cultural Communication.</p>
<p>The word meme is not old, so unless the concept existed before 1976, you may search in vain for an equivalent in Chinese:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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, &quot;The Selfish Gene,&quot; 1976]</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-13T01:09:50.140Z
Thanks a lot! I accpet @r13 's answer, but your answer also helped me to understand the "meme"
DengSihan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-12T22:57:44.930Z
2021-12-12T22:57:44.930Z
Pedroski
<p>TL; DR: <strong>梗 and 迷因 is similar but they have a little difference. Meme can be translated into these two different words depending on the context, and sometimes mixed.</strong></p>
<p>The correct—but uncommon—word for 梗 is 哏, which originally meant a punchline in crosstalk (Xiangsheng). The meaning of 迷因 in Taiwan and the word 'meme' is the same. But some time a picture with meme and words (image macro) called 梗圖 too. (in China, it called 表情包, but the word is also used in Taiwan sometime.) According to the Chinese translation of <em>The Selfish Gene</em> that I have read, the meme was translated as 瀰, but the most common words on internet are 迷因 (Taiwan) and 模因 (China). Possibly because of the closedness of the internet, meme culture in China seens not as popular as Taiwan and other Chinese-speaking places, although 表情包 is very common in China.</p>
<p>If you try google translate, you will find that meme will be translated as 模因 (google translate always uses term of Chinese mainland whenever you choose traditional or simplified Chinese, ironically it has ended their operations in mainland.), but sometimes it will be translated as 梗, and 梗 will also be translated as meme. Simply put, if you can't find a funny place in a picture, you will ask &quot;梗在哪裡？&quot;. If your friend sent you a video of never gonna give you up, you'd say &quot;這是個有趣的迷因&quot;</p>
<p>I hope this helps you :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-24T06:17:15.207Z
2022-12-24T06:17:15.207Z
Clay Hsu
<p>I am Chinese. As far as i am considered, the word meme can be called 表情包 or 梗 or 时尚流行语</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-10T08:53:30.350Z
2024-05-10T08:53:30.350Z
Nuaris
<p>美咩，本来就是抽象，就得抽象的翻译。
美咩， pronounced is &quot;měi cmiē&quot;，美 is beautiful, and 咩 is a sound made by sheep.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-17T08:59:12.713Z
2022-12-17T08:59:12.713Z
Jun Shi Yan
<p>According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I considered calling them &quot;梗&quot; (<em>gěng</em>), but sometimes—especially on Taiwan—they're more likely to be called &quot;迷因&quot; (<em>míyīn</em>), which looks like it's just transcribing the pronunciation directly.</p>
<p>Is there any better translation for &quot;meme&quot;?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-17T15:20:51.503Z
The answers below already covered the main ones. At least in Shanghai, they're generally 迷因 or 迷迷. I will just note that __(a)__ [the translations sections at Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meme#Translations) are generally pretty good for Chinese and __(b)__, any time they aren't and you get an answer here, it's a helpful public service to go code them in. Just hit edit and add * Chinese: *: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|NNN|tr=pīnyīn}} on two separate lines. That lets someone add in the Cantonese &c. later if there are important differences.
lly
<translation><word-requests><loanwords><internet-slang>
How to translate "meme" in social media in Chinese?
# How to translate "meme" in social media in Chinese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-12)

According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme),

> A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.

I considered calling them "梗" (*gěng*), but sometimes—especially on Taiwan—they're more likely to be called "迷因" (*míyīn*), which looks like it's just transcribing the pronunciation directly.

Is there any better translation for "meme"?

Thanks in advance.

**Tags:** translation, word-requests, loanwords, internet-slang
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The answers below already covered the main ones. At least in Shanghai, they're generally 迷因 or 迷迷. I will just note that __(a)__ [the translations sections at Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meme#Translations) are generally pretty good for Chinese and __(b)__, any time they aren't and you get an answer here, it's a helpful public service to go code them in. Just hit edit and add * Chinese: *: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|NNN|tr=pīnyīn}} on two separate lines. That lets someone add in the Cantonese &c. later if there are important differences.  

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## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-12-12. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

A fad is 时尚；一时流行的狂热, that is an idea or behavior spread by "meme" on the internet, so I consider it is a "罔潮" or "罔流". But both terms seem too old-styled and too formal, so maybe simply call it 迷迷, 取其既新奇又引人响往 - 迷一, 且時而撲朔迷離, 逗人深思進而模仿 - 迷二.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-12-12. Score: 2

Looks like it is translated as a loanword, in the same way as humour:

模因;  
模仿传递行为(通过模仿等非遗传方式传递的行为)

It even has a science!

模因论揭示了人类文化传播的规律。  
Memetics reveals the Law of Human Cultural Communication.

The word meme is not old, so unless the concept existed before 1976, you may search in vain for an equivalent in Chinese:

> 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, "The Selfish Gene," 1976]

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot! I accpet @r13 's answer, but your answer also helped me to understand the "meme"  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-12-24. Score: 2

TL; DR: **梗 and 迷因 is similar but they have a little difference. Meme can be translated into these two different words depending on the context, and sometimes mixed.**

The correct—but uncommon—word for 梗 is 哏, which originally meant a punchline in crosstalk (Xiangsheng). The meaning of 迷因 in Taiwan and the word 'meme' is the same. But some time a picture with meme and words (image macro) called 梗圖 too. (in China, it called 表情包, but the word is also used in Taiwan sometime.) According to the Chinese translation of *The Selfish Gene* that I have read, the meme was translated as 瀰, but the most common words on internet are 迷因 (Taiwan) and 模因 (China). Possibly because of the closedness of the internet, meme culture in China seens not as popular as Taiwan and other Chinese-speaking places, although 表情包 is very common in China.

If you try google translate, you will find that meme will be translated as 模因 (google translate always uses term of Chinese mainland whenever you choose traditional or simplified Chinese, ironically it has ended their operations in mainland.), but sometimes it will be translated as 梗, and 梗 will also be translated as meme. Simply put, if you can't find a funny place in a picture, you will ask "梗在哪裡？". If your friend sent you a video of never gonna give you up, you'd say "這是個有趣的迷因"

I hope this helps you :)


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### Answer by username_5 on 2024-05-10. Score: 0

I am Chinese. As far as i am considered, the word meme can be called 表情包 or 梗 or 时尚流行语


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### Answer by username_6 on 2022-12-17. Score: 0

美咩，本来就是抽象，就得抽象的翻译。
美咩， pronounced is "měi cmiē"，美 is beautiful, and 咩 is a sound made by sheep.


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