1. Meta means about the
thing itself. It's seeing the
thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing, like being self-aware.
2. A term used in mmo meaning the Most Effective Tactic Available. It's basically what works in a
game regardless of what you wish would work.
1. There's a lot of bad examples here, so I'll fix those.
Making a movie about the film industry isn't meta. Making a movie about making movies is.
Using a footnote to explain another footnote isn't meta. Using a footnote to explain what footnotes are is meta.
Metaphysics, probably the most common use of meta, means that instead of talking about the
physics of the real world, you're talking about the
physics itself (for example, why should there even be
gravity).
2. Ninja in FFXI wasn't meant to be a tank, but it ended up being one in the meta because it's evasion was so high.