Meaning
What does Mlem mean?
Mlem (also known as blep or blop) is an onomatopoeic word that expresses the act of an animal sticking out their tongue between their closed lips, thus appearing goofy and funny for the viewer.
This expression is part of the fictional language that was formed over time on the internet, called Doggospeak or Doggo-lingo, which is intended to express the thoughts of house-pets.
Origin
What's the origin of Mlem?
Doggospeak started to form and develop in the early 2010s on Facebook.
One of the first appearances of mlem was, though, an Imgur post from 2014. The post featured an animated GIF of a cat licking tapwater, captioned with a lot of mlems following each other.
Spread & Usage
How did Mlem spread?
After the term was introduced to the folks of the internet, it became widely popular and frequently used in various platforms.
Mlem as a term was added to Urban Dictionary in 2015.
On Reddit, the phenomenon was made a dedicated subreddit the same year, called /r/mlem.
The meme saw a wide spread on Instagram as well, with #mlem becoming a popular hashtag among both meme pages and pet owners.
External resources
- Theanimalrescuesite.com – The Mlem, Boop, And Blep: What Your Pets Are Really Doing
- 7esl.com – What Does ‘Mlem’ Mean in Texting and Online Slang?
- Rover.com – Popular Internet Dog Lingo Series Releases Second Video