The spread of a successful but pernicious meme, especially one that parasitises the victims into giving their all to propagate it. Astrology, BASIC, and the other guy' s religion are often considered to be examples. This usage is given point by the historical fact that "joiner" ideologies like Naziism or various forms of millennarian Christianity have exhibited plague-like cycles of exponential growth followed by collapses to small reservoir populations. [Jargon File] (1996-08-11)
