What is a Meta for?

Answer 1

If you mean a metaphor then it is a word or phrase that describes one thing being used to describe another eg. "the heart of the matter" (matters do not actually have hearts, therefore it is a metaphor).

Answer 2

Meta (from Greek: μετά = "after", "beyond", "with"), is a prefix used in English in order to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter. The Greek meta is equivalent to the Latin post.

In epistemology, the prefix meta- is used to mean about (its own category). For example, metadata are data about data (who has produced it, when, what format the data are in and so on). Similarly, metamemory in psychology means an individual's knowledge about whether or not they would remember something if they concentrated on recalling it. Any subject can be said to have a meta-theory, which is the theoretical consideration of its foundations and methods.[citation needed]

Another, slightly different interpretation of this term is "about" but not "on". For example, a grammar is considered as a metalanguage, a meta-answer is not a real answer but a reply, such as: "this is not a good question", "I suggest to ask your professor". Here, we have such concepts as meta-reasoning and meta-knowledge.[citation needed]

From the Hypercomputing Dictionary: A prefix meaning 'one layer of information removed'. If X is some concept then meta-X is "data about or processes operating on X". The dual directionality of meta can be illustrated in the concept of an 'explanation'. If someone says, "what does that mean?" one can offer them either a definition and explanation or an example - either are accepted.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta

Answer 3

met·a·phor (mĕt'ə-fôr', -fər)
n.
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” (Shakespeare).
One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol: “Hollywood has always been an irresistible, prefabricated metaphor for the crass, the materialistic, the shallow, and the craven” (Neal Gabler).

[Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry.]
metaphoric met'a·phor'ic (-fôr'ĭk, -fŏr'-) or met'a·phor'i·cal adj.
metaphorically met'a·phor'i·cal·ly adv.

or do you mean meta as in meta tag used in technology but mostly in internet search engines??

g that identifies the contents of a Web page for the search engines. Meta tags are hidden on the page, but they, as well as all the HTML code on a page, can be viewed by selecting View/Source or View/Page Source from the browser menu. Meta tags contain a general description of the page, keywords and copyright information.

Search engines often display the Title tag and Distribution meta tag as the short summary you see on the results page. The Keywords meta tag also helps to place a page in the right results. Following are meta tag examples for this encyclopedia.

Answer 4

Telling a story to Al le Gory
Measuring An(n)a Gram

Answer 5

My mom always told me "it's for the cows to graze in!"

Answer 6

It is for letting you know how much electricity you have used, and have to pay for.