Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year: 'GIF'
Internet 1, English language 0.
In yet another of the 鈥淚nternet鈥檚 ongoing takeover of the English language,鈥� has announced that 2012鈥檚 word of the year is 鈥楪IF.鈥�
What?
If you, like us, spend more time with your nose in a book than in tech circles, here鈥檚 a primer: GIF, which is actually an acronym that stands for 鈥済raphic interchange format,鈥� is a compressed file format for images that can be used to create simple, jerky, looping animations. The word, traditionally used as a noun, is a longstanding part of Internet meme culture and has been in use for 25 years. But, Oxford American Dictionary claims, this is the first year it 鈥渂roke free of the bounds of being a mere noun, transcending into the territory of verbs, where GIF has come to mean 鈥榯o create a GIF file of (an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event),鈥欌�� according to .
鈥淭he 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,鈥� Katherine Martin, Head of the US Dictionaries Program at Oxford University Press USA, said in a marking the announcement.
鈥淕IF 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.鈥�
Oxford included a list of 鈥淗ighlights of the year in GIFing,鈥� including its contributions to the viral ubiquity of , the pop-hit Korean music video; as a tool in covering ; and its use in live-GIFing the presidential .
Amazingly, GIF beat out other contenders such as Eurogeddon, the potential financial collapse of the European Union countries that have adopted the euro; nomophobia, anxiety caused by being without one鈥檚 mobile phone (from no + mo(bile) + phobia); super PAC, a type of independent political action committee which may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals; superstorm, an unusually large and destructive storm, as in 鈥�superstorm Sandy鈥�; and YOLO, an acronym for "you only live once," typically used as a rationale for impulsive behavior.
GIF joins other recent popular tech-oriented words like 鈥榩odcast,鈥� 鈥榯weet,鈥� 鈥榖log,鈥� and 鈥榞oogle.鈥�
As odd as we find this year鈥檚 selection, we can鈥檛 argue that it 鈥� and its fellow contenders 鈥� provides a fascinating window into the zeitgeist of 2012.
And now, back to our favorite lexicographer, Samuel Johnson.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
