meemi

Meemi is the Finnish term for a meme, a unit of cultural information that spreads rapidly through online communities. The word is a direct adaptation of the English meme, which was popularized by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 to describe ideas that propagate like genes. In Finnish online discourse, meemit (plural) and meemi (singular) are used to refer to humorous images, videos, phrases, or formats that gain traction and are imitated or remixed by users.

In practice, a meemi often takes the form of an image macro or a short video with a recognizable template or joke. The humor may rely on wordplay, situational irony, cultural references, or shared experiences within a community. Meemit spread through social networks, messaging apps, imageboards, and forums, evolving as users modify captions, contexts, or visuals. The same meme can mutate into several variants as it travels across platforms and communities, contributing to a broader memetic culture in Finnish online spaces.

Linguistically, meemi functions as a standard Finnish noun and follows typical inflection patterns. Plural forms include meemit or, in some contexts, meemejä, reflecting Finnish pluralization and case usage. The term is embedded in discussions of internet culture, media literacy, and digital communication in Finland, and it can appear in both casual conversation and more formal analyses of meme dynamics.

Overall, meemi represents how Finnish speakers refer to the global meme phenomenon in everyday language, highlighting the shared, evolving nature of online humor and cultural commentary.