Unveiling Metablog
The Online Etymology Dictionary defines Meta as a prefix meaning 1. “after, behind,” 2. “changed, altered,” 3. “higher, beyond,” from Gk. meta (prep.) “in the midst of, among, with, after,” from PIE *me- “in the middle” (cf. Goth. miþ, O.E. mið “with, together with, among,” see mid). Notion of “changing places with” probably led to senses “change of place, order, or nature,” which was the principal meaning of the Gk. word when used as a prefix. Third sense, “higher, beyond,” is due to misinterpretation of metaphysics (q.v.) as “transcending physical science.”
The definition above need not interest you in its essence. It is alluded to in this introductory entry to make clear what is meant by Metablog, yet another series to be featured in Tololy’s Box. It has become a habit of mine to found a nexus of entries, as you might have observed.
What interests me in the etymology of meta, and what is in verity the meaning I will be using in Metablog, is that which states that Meta is a prefix meaning “after or behind. To dilate matters a bit more, and depending on my own understanding of the prefix in terms such as, say, meta-theatre or meta-linguistics, the prefix is used to indicate a species of knowledge that discusses its own principles and theories.
As for blog, that word still has not found a proper meaning that convinces me, because the variations are so wide and amazingly hypnotic. This word I leave undefined, and you may outline it as you please. Now Metablog will, as I would like to design it to be, handle issues related to blogging in general, and not the Box in particular. I may start from the Box, but the scope is always larger and the outcome could be applied to a number of blogs, hence the naming of the nexus Metablog. Tololys Box, in its Metablog chain, is a sort of a blog that talks about blogs, now Meta is almost certainly clearer to you.
