It’s time to celebrate, Internet denizens. We don’t need anyone to legitimize our hobbies, but it’s nice when the more traditional establishments make note of our various and sundry online endeavors. Today is one of those times. Oxford Dictionaries has just named GIF their 2012 Word of the Year. Not the image format, which turned 25 this year, but the verb. As in, to GIF, and GIFing. I’m not even kidding.
Oxford Dictionaries explains their choice:
“The GIF, a compressed file format for images that can be used to create simple, looping animations, turned 25 this year, but like so many other relics of the 80s, it has never been trendier,” notes Katherine Martin, Head of the US Dictionaries Program at Oxford University Press USA. “GIF celebrated a lexical milestone in 2012, gaining traction as a verb, not just a noun. The GIF has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace.”
Without further adieu, here’s a bunch of GIFs celebrating their victory.
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No. 1 | Benedict Cumberbatch GIF
Wait, we won? Yes!
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No. 2 | Excited Cat GIF
Like, this GIF can't even believe the news.
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No. 3 | Tangled GIF
Oh my gosh, I just can't handle this.
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No. 4 | Jeremy Renner GIF
This GIF is so excited to be honored.
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No. 5 | Minions GIF
WOOOO! GIF WON!
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No. 6 | Fairly Oddparents GIF
Let's party!
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No. 7 | Batman and Robin GIF
It's definitely time to dance.
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No. 8 | Dancing Abed GIF
It's definitely still time to dance.
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No. 9 | Birthday GIF
Whaaaaat? We won? Yay!
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No. 10 | Matt Smith GIF
Woohoo!
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No. 11 | Andy GIF
Let me show you how excited I am about this.
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No. 12 | Excited Kid GIF
This is how excited I am.
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No. 13 | YEEEEEAH GIF
All other words are losers.
(Oxford Dictionaries via Wired)
- Happy 25th birthday, GIF
- Twitter finally put a stop to animated GIF avatars
- This is an analog turntable for watching animated GIFs
