# What is the name of this internet meme?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705 "2010-11-23T21:48:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705/1 "2010-11-23T21:48:32Z")

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I see this sort of thing all the time over on Reddit, but I can’t seem to find a name for this meme.

The link is here: [Reddit - Dive into anything](http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/eabag/i_have_never_in_my_life_seen_this_level_of/c16l4xd)

Essentially, what happens is someone provides a name (John Doe) and an incorrect description, then someone comes along and provides the correct name (John Smith) to match the previous description and then suggests a new (incorrect) description for John Doe.

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**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705/2 "2010-11-23T22:02:31Z")

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This is an internet meme? My old roommate and I used to do this on long car trips back in the 1990s. But we didn’t limit ourselves to people.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705/3 "2010-11-23T22:15:33Z")

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Sounds more like a game than a meme to me.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705/4 "2010-11-23T23:28:26Z")

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Back when we played the game here in 2008, it started out being called “The Cossack Game.” I humbly suggested we name the Dope version [Malapropagation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464140&highlight=malapropagation), which stuck for this Board.

And it’s a lot older than the Internet.

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-internet-meme/561705/5 "2010-11-24T01:43:32Z")

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I have found answers to many of my meme questions at [Know Your Meme](http://knowyourmeme.com/).