META - what exactly does it mean?
January 10th, 2006 by gina.revillIt’s a trendy word at the moment. I first encountered it when I discovered John Donne and Andrew Marvell and the rest of those witty and delightful metaphysical poets.
I took the word then as meaning ‘higher than’ as in ‘higher than the physical - to do with the philosophical’.
Some definitions from people here at the lab:
It’s cropping up everywhere and sometimes I’m not convinced its use is always actually enhances the sentence.
A brilliant MA assignment I read recently uses it in the context of his decision to publish online, in order to explore the limitations he may be placing on his own students - ‘It serves as a meta study because in its development I have come face to face with the challenges of the ideas I may value or propose.’ So a study about what it’s like to study (online). Does the word ‘meta’ strictly necessary here? Does it enhance it?
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