# Does 'GIF' automatically mean 'animated GIF' to you young'uns? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478 "2024-03-27T21:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/1 "2024-03-27T21:19:58Z")
Several dozen times in various contexts I’ve encountered a reference to a GIF image file and the item in question has invariably been an animated GIF. Admittedly, I don’t know any modern reason to use a GIF other than for the animation, either. But I’m curious: • Are you aware that the original ubiquitous image file format for ordinary motionless computer images was GIF? (JPEGs came later, when more than a tiny handful of people were running displays of greater than 256 colors) • Did you encounter them in earlier times, or was that all before your computer-using timeframe? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/2 "2024-03-27T21:21:42Z")
I’m well aware of the whole GIF v. PNG thing, having written a PNG encoder once. ~Max, 27 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/3 "2024-03-27T21:25:50Z")
Not a young one, but GIF pretty much means animated now. Yes, I remember GIF from long ago and editing them. This was pre-jpeg. But my computer use predates GIFs also as I started around 1982 on a TI-99/4A and then Commodore products. GIFs came into release in 1987. BTW: you didn’t ask, but I pronounce them as Jiffs not with the hard G like garage. Adding to the meaning now being animated is that under Google Image search, you filter animated by selecting Tools - Type = GIF. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/4 "2024-03-27T21:27:05Z")
These days, yeah. Like you said, what other reason is there to use a gif. Although, come to think of it, weren’t they also useful in some ways having to do with being able to have a transparent background? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/5 "2024-03-27T21:27:10Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Several dozen times in various contexts I’ve encountered a reference to a GIF image file and the item in question has invariably been an animated GIF. It’s gone beyond that, as pretty much any short animated image will be called a GIF, even if it’s not actually a .GIF file (like an MP4). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/6 "2024-03-27T21:28:11Z")
.png work well for transparent. Very easy. BTW: .bmp & .tiff support transparency, just not as easy as .png ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/7 "2024-03-27T21:31:29Z")
I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3,000 years ago when the Graphics Interchange Format was one of the very few image format available for the new-fangled World Wide Web. And it was just one image, in (at most) 256 colors. Animated gifs were completely mind-blowing when they first appeared. And it was _always_ pronounced with a hard “g”. (Had to remove the animated gif because it was on infinite loop.) I was skeptical when PNG hit the market but it didn’t take too long to convince me. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/8 "2024-03-27T21:32:49Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It’s gone beyond that, as pretty much any short animated image will be called a GIF, even if it’s not actually a .GIF file (like an MP4). This is my read - while just shy of 50, I remember and have used multiple formats by their proper names, the term GIF is approaching the level of generic brand names like Xerox and Kleenex. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/9 "2024-03-27T21:33:09Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > .png work well for transparent. Very easy. Better than GIF. PNG has/can have a whole alpha channel, but IIRC GIF can only make one colour “transparent”, so you can’t get anti-aliasing that works on all backgrounds. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/10 "2024-03-27T21:35:11Z")
.bmp preceded .gif by about 2 years. A terrible format for data transfer of course. But there with .gif as the WWW got up and running. Even .jpg was 1992 and was on the Web by the time most people were starting to get on the web. Both pronunciations of GIF are of course valid and which was right was an early argument nearly as violent the _Do Balrog have Wings_ arguments and riots. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/11 "2024-03-27T22:08:13Z")
Of course balrogs have wings. I have a GIF that proves it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/12 "2024-03-27T22:18:53Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It’s gone beyond that, as pretty much any short animated image will be called a GIF, even if it’s not actually a .GIF file (like an MP4) Yeah. To capitalize on this, Imgur started presenting mp4 files with the .gifv extension. There was no reason for this except that it reminds people of being a gif (short, silent, looped animation) while using a better compression format. > [@AHunter3](#): > > Did you encounter them in earlier times, or was that all before your computer-using timeframe? I remember them from the BBS days (before being animated), and where even creating a GIF was a non-trivial process, and there was ongoing improvement in the methods, like using Floyd-Steinberg dithering vs. an ordered pattern, or new ways of picking the best 256-color palette. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/13 "2024-03-27T22:26:12Z")
.GIF is a pretty good format for simple images with few colors and relatively-large regions of the same color, which isn’t an uncommon use case… except that, usually, images like that are even better off as SVG or some other vector format. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/14 "2024-03-27T22:36:45Z")
Flash took over that role, though. Good for animations and interactive stuff. Of course, that’s been replaced now with HTML5, but at the time it was the best way to get high-quality vector animation. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/15 "2024-03-27T22:40:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > BTW: you didn’t ask, but I pronounce them as Jiffs not with the hard G like garage. YAY! There’s more than one of us! I’m 48, and these days it means animated GIF, as who the hell uses GIFs for normal stuff these days (and they are better for line art and that sort of thing – still, outside of a graphic or web designer context, GIF as a colloquial term pretty much exclusively means animated these days.) If you look at [urbandictionary.com](http://urbandictionary.com) – and I don’t want to hear arguments about how good it is or not; it is a useful tool to see how words are being used today – the young’uns with the best like:dislike ratio definitions mention only the moving aspect of it. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/16 "2024-03-27T22:50:33Z")
Just because the young are ignorant of history, that doesn’t mean that history has no value. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/17 "2024-03-27T22:51:53Z")
I’m sorry. If I said that, I missed it. Or are we looking for responses from the young’uns here? Because this is probably not the best place for it, given the age of folks here. ETA: OK, I asked the 10-year-old. She said “it’s a moving picture…wait did you mean ghiff or jiff?” I said “it’s the same thing!” “NO IT’S NOT. JIF IS PEANUT BUTTER!!!” “Do you know anything about the history of it?” “Dad. Leave me alone, I’m talking to my friend.” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/18 "2024-03-27T22:53:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m 48, and these days it means animated GIF, as who the hell uses GIFs for normal stuff these days 51 here, but otherwise the same. I remember GIF files from the infancy of the Web but these days only expect to see them in animated format. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/19 "2024-03-27T22:58:52Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3,000 years ago when the Graphics Interchange Format was one of the very few image format available for the new-fangled World Wide Web. And it was just one image, in (at most) 256 colors. > > Animated gifs were completely mind-blowing when they first appeared. Are you sure the original original GIF (1987) did not already support multiple images? Not that you were downloading too-big files off of Compuserve with your 1200-baud modem. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478/20 "2024-03-27T23:04:15Z")
From what I read the 87a specification did allow for multiple images in a data stream, but there wasn’t much you can do with it. It was the 89a version that added delay times and the such for more control. [https://www.reasoft.com/tutorials/web/GIF\_File\_Format.html](https://www.reasoft.com/tutorials/web/GIF_File_Format.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-gif-automatically-mean-animated-gif-to-you-younguns/999478.md?page=2)