This was one of the Olympic gymnasts, who we all know got caught making that smirk in the picture. MARTIN: So, other candidates were the McKayla is not impressed. I totally drank the Kool-Aid on this one. I was a little bit surprised by how big this was blowing up. Did that surprise you that this particular meme has caught on so much?Д¬ALDWELL: I mean, at the beginning, yeah. MARTIN: So, we just heard a little bit of вЂњGangnam Style.вЂќ This was listed as number one in your best memes of 2012. ThatвЂ™s not where I thought you were going to go with that.Д¬ALDWELL: But today, these days, we talk about Internet memes вЂ“ viral videos or things we call image macros, which are captioned images, or just, you know, catch phrases and trends that typically spread on the Internet through sites like Red Head and Fourchan and Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr and that sort of thing. So, the word meme was coined as the cultural analog to a gene. And so he thought, well, maybe not just biological things under natural selection but maybe other things replicate like ideas. And itвЂ™s the idea that anything replicates will undergo natural selection. And he was trying to illustrate this concept of universal Darwinism. MARTIN: So, IвЂ™m going to put you on the spot: what is your definition of a meme?Д¬ALDWELL: The word meme was actually coined in 1976 by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. HeвЂ™s a reporter for, which, as you can imagine, tracks Internet memes. Joining us from our New York bureau is Don Caldwell. Every time you turn around, the random, the obscure, the ridiculous, itвЂ™s all being meme-fied(ph). MARTIN: But this year, it feels like the meme phenomenon has taken off in a new way. When these images and ideas take on lives of their own on the Internet, the variations are called memes, and memes have been with us for years.

MARTIN: So, a little Internet 101 for the uninitiated. And it didnвЂ™t take long for the video to mutate on the Web into versions featuring Mitt Romney, Pokemon characters and the Ohio University marching band. MARTIN: ItвЂ™s Korean pop star PSYвЂ™s вЂњGangnam Style,вЂќ of course. PSY: (Singing) Opa Gangnam style, Gangnam styleвЂ¦ And just in case youвЂ™ve taken up residence under a large rock of some kindвЂ¦ So, youвЂ™ve all seen it, right? It is the most-watched YouTube video ever вЂ“ and this week it surpassed one billion views. WeвЂ™ll add the broadcast version to the top of this post when itвЂ™s ready. Much more from their conservation, as we said, is due on Weekend Edition Sunday. вЂ¦ People would share that because it was saying something about themselves.вЂќ TheyвЂ™re just вЂњlittle posters,вЂќ he says, вЂњthat were used to say something about how certain people saw a job or expertise and it was compared to how the person saw their own job or expertise, and the often mundane reality of what it actually was. On the next Weekend Edition Sunday, thereвЂ™s a conversation scheduled between NPRвЂ™s Rachel Martin and Know Your MemeвЂ™s Don Caldwell (who Two-Way readers might recall we spoke with about 2011вЂ™s best memes).Д¬aldwell tells Rachel that the best memes вЂњsay something about the person whoвЂ™s sharing themвЂќ - such as вЂњWhat People Think I Do.вЂќ They include вЂњ McKayla is not impressedвЂќ - the photos that seemed to pop up everywhere after American gymnast McKayla Maroney struck a less-than-pleased pose after she won a silver medal at the London Olympics.Д®ven President Obama got in on that meme. There were also many other memes that might have made that list, but could be on yours. 1 meme of 2012, according to the memeologists at Know Your Meme.ДЄfter all, Korean pop singer PSYвЂ™s catchy tune and the video for it вЂњspawned hundreds of parodies and copycat dance videos on YouTube and surpassed Justin BieberвЂ™s single вЂBabyвЂ™ as the most watched video on YouTube,вЂќ as Know Your Meme writes.ДЇriday, there was word that вЂњGangnam StyleвЂќ is the first video to pass 1 billion on YouTube.Д«ut there was competition for Know Your MemeвЂ™s No.

Gangnam style meme