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Thread: How to pronounce gif

  1. #1

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    How to pronounce gif

    Is it pronounced "jif" as in jiffy peanut butter or "gif" as in gift with silent t

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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Despite the fact that various people think they have one, there is no definitive argument as to how it should be pronounced. The inventor of the format intended it to be pronounced with a soft "g" as in "giraffe", but that doesn't make him the authority. Personally, I pronounce if with a hard "g" as in "gift". I saw it written many, many times before I ever heard anyone pronounce it either way and a hard "g" seemed natural to me and I didn't even consider a soft "g" as a possibility. The fact that the "g" stands for "graphics", which has a hard "g", supports that interpretation. The fact is that there are people who pronounce it one way and there are people who pronounce it the other and, regardless of what any of them may say, no one is wrong.

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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Um... no. It has always been a soft G sound. Wishing otherwise doesn't make it so.

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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Next you'll be asking how to pronounce Linux or SUSE.
    "Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment" Robert Benchley, 1930

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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by dilettante View Post
    Um... no. It has always been a soft G sound. Wishing otherwise doesn't make it so.
    Case in point.

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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by passel View Post
    Next you'll be asking how to pronounce Linux or SUSE.
    How do you pronounce Linux and SUSE

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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    This is worth a read on the subject:

    http://howtoreallypronouncegif.com/

    No one disputes that the creator of the format intended it to be pronounced with a soft "g". As that page points out though, so what? The spelling, pronunciation and usage of many words has and does change. Personally, I've never met anyone who read "gif" and pronounced it with a soft "g". Maybe they exist but they certainly seem to be in the minority. That suggests that the more natural way to pronounce it is with a hard "g". Who cares what the creator intended when his logic was dodgy, or even if it wasn't? If people cared what the creators of things intended, no one would still be using VB6.

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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    The reason I started this thread is because from the beginning I have always pronounced it like "jif" but then a friend of mine asked me if I had any "gifs" (g like in gift) and I asked him what is a gift(silent t) and he said it's those small animated images and I replied "oh, you mean "jifs". So, then I wasn't sure anymore.

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    Superbly Moderated NeedSomeAnswers's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    In the UK "Jif" used to a bathroom cleaning product, ... and having just looked it up on google in the US its a brand of Peanut butter ...
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    Administrator Steve R Jones's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers View Post
    In the UK "Jif" used to a bathroom cleaning product, ... and having just looked it up on google in the US its a brand of Peanut butter ...
    In other words - be careful what you eat

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    Super Moderator FunkyDexter's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Crazy Americans! You can't use peanut butter to clean your bathroom!
    The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter - Winston Churchill

    Hadoop actually sounds more like the way they greet each other in Yorkshire - Inferrd

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    Fanatic Member Peter Porter's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Removed post.
    Last edited by Peter Porter; Jan 27th, 2020 at 04:50 PM.

  13. #13
    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers View Post
    In the UK "Jif" used to a bathroom cleaning product, ... and having just looked it up on google in the US its a brand of Peanut butter ...
    Apparently, the creator of the file format specifically named it after that brand of peanut butter, even though that name is spelled with a J. That's what it says in the page I linked to, anyway. BTW, we had (have?) Jif cleaner here in Australia too.

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    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by FunkyDexter View Post
    Crazy Americans! You can't use peanut butter to clean your bathroom!
    The dogs lick it clean, that way (rather than just drinking from the bowl).

    I have always pronounced it with the hard g, cause if I pronounce it with the soft g, I get hungry for a sandwich. That never helps with anything.
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    PowerPoster boops boops's Avatar
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    Re: How to pronounce gif

    Quote Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker View Post
    I have always pronounced it with the hard g, cause if I pronounce it with the soft g, I get hungry for a sandwich. That never helps with anything.
    Be careful what you wish for. In Dutch, "gif" is also pronounced with a hard g, which is like the ch in Loch Lomond. And it means "poison". BB

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