in meatspace
- idiom
- Slang
- Still, if there isn't a better solution in meatspace, I don't know if we can find anything better in cyberspace.
Examples
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Many designers still sketch and develop ideas in "meatspace," but increasingly younger ones do not.
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Sorry to be joining the discussion later... you know how it is out here in meatspace!
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If we knew him in meatspace, we would probably like him.
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I'm personally starting to encourage a personnel backlash with myself to start spending less and less time online and more and more time in meatspace.
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In meatspace, we recognize that cops sometimes do abusive things, and that's what badge numbers and internal affairs are for.
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I have been attacked in meatspace, but never, ever as hatefully as I have seen Rebecca, Amy, Greta, Jen, et al. attacked.
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I don't tend to get along with people my own age very well—not in meatspace, anyway, and an awful lot of the women my age have just entered the babymaking phase.
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One thing I've noted in this whole shemozzle is the amazing correlation between those folks arguing loudly for their right to violate the boundaries of others in meatspace and those who are equally willing to violate the boundaries of others online.
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In meatspace, we can meet our friends and socialize without the distractions of our screens.
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Unlike digital interactions, in meatspace conversations can feel more genuine and personal.
Synonyms
To be present at a place rather than by phone or online
Seen in everyday life and practical situations, not just in theory or tests
Seeing someone face to face rather than in a photo or on TV
People are in the same place instead of online
Antonyms
How Physical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase contrasts with 'cyberspace' and uses 'meat' metaphorically to signal the flesh-and-blood, physical world; a learner who knows 'meat' and 'space' might see a hint of physicality but not reliably infer the idiomatic contrast without cultural or contextual knowledge. Because the connection (meat = physical body, space = realm) is partly compositional but relies on slangy metaphor and contrast with virtual terms, it is only partially predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
In meatspace comes from internet users who called the online world 'cyberspace', so they used meat to mean our bodies and space to mean the real place where people meet face to face. That's why in meatspace means 'in the physical world', not 'online'.