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Sure, the Oxford English Dictionary voted the crying-laughing emoji — a.k.a. “Face With Tears of Joy” — the “word” of the year. That’s only because we don’t live in J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, where magical moving images can appear on the front of newspapers and other print publications. Otherwise, any one of the following GIFs would be a worthy candidate for 2015’s most iconic “word,” if we’re apparently calling images words now. What a time to be alive.
Sad ruminations on the current state of language aside, let’s talk about GIFs, baby. These Graphics Interchange Format images (the more you know) really do manage to speak louder than words composed of paltry letters. When HR sends a company-wide email dismissing everyone early the Wednesday before Thanksgiving? The only appropriate response is a GIF, of course.
Pop culture events seem increasingly rife with GIF-able moments that will later go down in your chat history as a witty, moving image response to an email or text. We’ve helpfully corralled the most iconic ones of 2015 right here, because as the saying goes, choosy moms choose GIF. "Mom" here being used in the most Tumblr sense of the word, and GIF being pronounced the way the creators intended (like the peanut butter brand).
You deserve only the best GIFs the year had to offer. Here they are in chronological order.
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