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Britain's media is in meltdown and its government is gaffe-prone, so Oxford Dictionaries has chosen an apt word of the year: "omnishambles".

Oxford University Press on Tuesday crowned the word - defined as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterised by a string of blunders and miscalculations" - its top term of 2012.

Each year Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that best reflects the mood of the year.

The publisher typically chooses separate British and American winners. This year's American champion is "gif", short for graphics interchange format, a common format for images on the internet.

Coined by writers of the satirical television show The Thick of It, omnishambles has been applied to everything from government PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations for the London Olympics.

Oxford University Press lexicographer Susie Dent said the word was chosen for its popularity as well as its "linguistic productivity".

She said "a notable coinage coming from the word is Romneyshambles" - a derisive term used by the British press after US presidential candidate Mitt Romney expressed doubts about London's ability to host a successful Olympics.

Omnishambles was chosen over shortlisted terms including "mummy porn" - the genre exemplified by the best-selling 50 Shades book series - and "green-on-blue", military attacks by forces regarded as neutral, as when members of the Afghan army or police attack foreign troops.

The Olympics offered up finalists including the verb "to medal", "Games Maker" - the name given to thousands of Olympic volunteers - and distance runner Mo Farah's victory dance, "the Mobot".

Europe's financial crisis lent the shortlisted word "Eurogeddon", while technology produced "second screening" - watching TV while simultaneously using a computer, phone or tablet - and social media popularised the acronym "YOLO", you only live once.

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'Omnishambles' is Oxford's word of 2012

"Higgs Boson" was a contender. So were "superstorm," "Super PAC" and "YOLO" (an acronym that stands for You Only Live Once). ButKatherine Martin, head of the U.S. dictionaries program at Oxford University Press USA,said that when it came time for her team of lexicographers to pick the word of the year, the choice was obvious. It had to be GIF, the verb.

"GIFverbto create a GIF file of (an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event):he GIFed the highlights of the debate."

"There were lots of contenders related to words that had been in the news like 'self-deportation' and 'pink slime,'" Martin said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "but GIF transcended any particular event and spoke to an overall trend of how we consume media."

For the last 25 years, people have been using the word GIF as a noun to describe a type of computer file that can cycle through a series of images. The word is actually an acronym for "graphic interchange format."

Martin said she experienced a personal turning point with the usage of GIF as a verb when Tumblr teamed with the Guardian website to "live GIF" the presidential debate. That sparked a series of stories in the media about live GIFing. She said she has still not found examples of the verb "GIF" in print media, but it is prevalent in the online media.

If the verb-ing of the word "GIF" makes you feel prickly -- as if it represents the demise of the English language -- keep in mind we've seen language morph like this before. People started using "Google" as a verb -- as in "Can you Google it?" in the early 2000s. And if I told you I had "Photoshopped" a picture you'd know that I had tweaked it using Adobe's Photoshop program.

Martin points out that while the noun GIF has existed for 25 years, it isn't until now that enough people have needed a word to describe the making of a GIF.

"The democratization of technology made it possible for anyone to make a GIF, and the rise of Tumblr gave them a forum to share their GIF," she said. "Then suddenly all these people had a reason to express an idea that never needed expressing before."

And for the record: Although Steve Wilhite, inventor of the GIF prefers the soft G pronunciation of the word (like Jiff, the peanut butter) the Oxford Dictionaries team has deemed both soft G and hard G pronunciations to be acceptable.

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GIF (v.) bests YOLO as Oxford dictionaries' U.S. word of the year

If you were to choose the word of the year, the year being 2012, what would you pick? Trust this will be a matter of much enjoyably conflict-filled discussion as we gear up for end of the year word lists. Could it be gaffe? Binders? Malarkey? Could it be a phrase, like fiscal cliff? Or what about something technology-based, or perhaps meme-ready? Maybe it's just portmanteau, given the tendency to portmanteau any and everything nowadays. Or how about such much despised words as literally, actually, or even ... moist?

RELATED: Doom and Gloom for Whom?

Oxford University Press has decided on its word(s) of the year, jumping the gun a bit given that it's only November. The holidays creep up on us earlier every year! They've chosen one semantic winner for British users and one for Americans. What are they?

RELATED: How to Sound Like the Bee's Knees: A Dictionary of 1920s Slang

For the British, writes the AP's Jill Lawless, it's omnishambles: a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations." Lawless continues, "Coined by writers of the satirical television show The Thick of It, omnishambles has been applied to everything from government PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations for the London Olympics." Excellent, excellentit beat out shortlisted words likemummy porn (mommy porn to Americans),Eurogeddon, the Mobot (for Mo Farah's victory dance), and, for the love of God, YOLO (You Only Live Once, you guys). Omnishambles has the added benefit of bringing us the term Romneyshambles. This makes it, in the parlance, "linguistically productive."

RELATED: Noah Webster, Father of the American Dictionary, Was Unemployable

On the disappointing side of things, however, "this years American champion is GIF, short for graphics interchange format, a common format for images on the Internet." Really? GIF? GIF is blowing our minds not only because as word of the year it seems, dare we say, a little old-fashioned.

@ktlincoln @mattlanger The year is 1994. The word of the year in the U.S. is "GIF." In the UK it's "acid house"

Also, there's the pronunciation issue:

can't believe i've been pronouncing "GIF" wrong for forever. it's "heef." as in, "look at this cool heef." #fyi

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GIF, America's Word of the Year, Is an Omnishambles

LONDON (AP) Britain's media are in a meltdown and its government is gaffe-prone, so Oxford Dictionaries has chosen an apt Word of the Year: "omnishambles."

Oxford University Press on Tuesday crowned the word defined as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations" its top term of 2012.

Each year Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that best reflects the mood of the year. The publisher typically chooses separate British and American winners. This year's American champion is "gif," short for graphics interchange format, a common format for images on the Internet.

The editors said gif was being recognized for making the crucial transition from noun to verb, "to gif": to create a gif file of an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event. And, inevitably, to share it online. Cute kittens, Olympic champions, President Obama they've all been giffed.

Coined by writers of the satirical television show "The Thick of It," omnishambles has been applied to everything from government PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations for the London Olympics.

Oxford University Press lexicographer Susie Dent said the word was chosen for its popularity as well as its "linguistic productivity."

She said "a notable coinage coming from the word is Romneyshambles" a derisive term used by the British press after U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney expressed doubts about London's ability to host a successful Olympics.

Omnishambles was chosen over shortlisted terms including "mummy porn" the genre exemplified by the best-selling "50 Shades" book series and "green-on-blue," military attacks by forces regarded as neutral, as when members of the Afghan army or police attack foreign troops. (For American English speakers, it's "mommy porn.")

The Olympics offered up finalists including the verb "to medal," ''Games Maker" the name given to thousands of Olympic volunteers and distance runner Mo Farah's victory dance, "the Mobot."

Europe's financial crisis lent the shortlisted word "Eurogeddon," while technology produced "second screening" watching TV while simultaneously using a computer, phone or tablet and social media popularized the acronym "YOLO," you only live once.

Excerpt from:
Oxford chooses 'omnishambles' as word of the year

LONDON Britain's media are in a meltdown and its government is gaffe-prone, so Oxford Dictionaries has chosen an apt Word of the Year: "omnishambles."

Oxford University Press on Tuesday crowned the word, defined as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations" as its top term of 2012.

Each year, Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that best reflects the mood of the year. The publisher typically chooses separate British and American winners. This year's American champion is "gif," short for graphics interchange format, a common format for images on the Internet.

Coined by writers of the satirical television show "The Thick of It," omnishambles has been applied to everything from government PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations for the London Olympics.

Oxford University Press lexicographer Susie Dent said the word was chosen for its popularity as well as its "linguistic productivity."

She said, "A notable coinage coming from the word is 'Romneyshambles,"' a derisive term used by the British press after U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney expressed doubts about London's ability to host a successful Olympics.

Omnishambles was chosen over shortlisted terms including "mummy porn" -- the genre exemplified by the best-selling "50 Shades" book series -- and "green-on-blue" military attacks by forces regarded as neutral, as when members of the Afghan army or police attack foreign troops. (For American English speakers, it's "mommy porn.")

The Olympics offered up finalists including the verb "to medal," "Games Maker" -- the name given to thousands of Olympic volunteers -- and distance runner Mo Farah's victory dance, "the Mobot."

Europe's financial crisis lent the shortlisted word "Eurogeddon," while technology produced "second screening" -- watching TV while simultaneously using a computer, phone or tablet -- and social media popularized the acronym "YOLO," for you-only-live-once.

The final shortlisted term is an old word given new life. "Pleb," a derogatory epithet for lower-class people, was alleged to have been uttered to a police officer by British Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell. He denied using the term, but resigned.

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Word of the year? "Omnishambles"!