Jif or Gif?

[Halcyon]

Hello!


It's Halcyon here! How is everyone this fine morning/afternoon/evening?


I've decided to start this whole weekly poll thing mainly just for my amusement. This is because often late at night when I'm trying to sleep, I start to wonder about certain questions. And what better way to figure out the answer to these questions than public opinion!?


This week's question is...


How do you pronouce gif? Gif or Jif?

Spoiler

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[The One Eyed Bandit]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/


"It's pronounced JIF, not GIF."


"pronounced JIF"


"not GIF."


checkmate, gifeists.

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Lots of people say that, @The One Eyed Bandit, but personally I just say that the creator is wrong. I mean, I used to pronounce it Jif until I realized how stupid it was. Seriously, unless you pronounce Graphic incredibly wrong, it should be Gif with a hard G. (Gif stands for graphics interchange format, so there's that.)

 

[Mordecai]

Hmm. I didn't know it was supposed to be pronounced "Jif" so I always pronounce it "Gif" because I am aware that it stands for graphics interchange format. I don't know about the creator, but I pronounce graphics with a G.

 

[Halcyon]

I've always pronounced it "jif" cause the word giraffe makes the J sound and I called it a jif before I even knew what it stood for.


I've also heard that it depends on your native language because some countries don't do the whole hard g thing.

 

[Mordecai]

I've always pronounced it "jif" cause the word giraffe makes the J sound and I called it a jif before I even knew what it stood for.
I've also heard that it depends on your native language because some countries don't do the whole hard g thing.

My native language is Portuguese and I pronounced it "gêf" (which is more like a jeh-fe) until I moved to an English speaking country and heard people calling it "gif."

 

[Nonagon]

I've always pronounced it 'Gif' myself. I'm a native English speaker (with French under my belt as well, which can cause some confusions, as you'll see in the link below), and I always thought that if the creator wanted it to be pronounced 'Jif', he would have spelled it as such. The peanut butter Jif is spelled and said the same, so why would GIF be pronounced differently?


Also, this article might help us understand a little more about the debate:


http://theweek.com/articles/463959/why-are-there-two-pronunciations-letter-g

 

[Geun Sae]

Gif NOT Jif.


*Eye twitches furiously.*

 

[grey987]

-notices this thread-


-pulls up a chair and grabs popcorn-

 

[Halcyon]

I always thought that if the creator wanted it to be pronounced 'Jif', he would have spelled it as such. The peanut butter Jif is spelled and said the same, so why would GIF be pronounced differently

I'm not too sure you can use that argument because in the English language there are tons of words that aren't pronounced the same way it's spelled. Like Wednesday and Knead.

 

[Nonagon]

I'm not too sure you can use that argument because in the English language there are tons of words that aren't pronounced the same way it's spelled. Like Wednesday and Knead.

That's a fair point, but the English language does not pronounce 'graphic' as 'japhic' or any variation thereof. The correct pronunciation features a hard g sound, so it would make sense for the pronunciation of GIF to follow that same g sound.


In the pronunciation of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), it wouldn't make much sense to sound out the first letter as if it were an ñ (the Spanish equivalent of a 'ny' sound in a word like 'canyon'). Considering the pronunciation of 'National', this would seem frivolous or perhaps misguided. The way I see it, this sort of thing would also apply to GIF. To make an acronym, you have to provide some consideration to its roots- it's sort of the point of an acronym! C:

 

[Saturn]

Yeah, I have been pronouncing it as Jif since I first read it. I dont know why, Maybe it's the whole "G" in giraffe thing Halcyon was talking about or maybe it's just how people personally read. I bet it's some kind of psychological thing (or not and I'm just being a psychology nut)


I think the whole argument about Jig peanut butter and pronouncing Gif as "Jif" is kind of weak considering that someone could choose to have their company name pronounced anyway they want.


Anyways, I don't think I could ever pronounce Gif different than the way I do now, mostly because I'm stubborn and I'm pretty sure it won't hurt me in the long run.

 

[theproperlyhyena]

I pronounce it "gif," but I do enjoy some Jif peanut butter. :3

 

[sorrow made you]

Pretty sure its meant to be "Jif" though, I can't pronounce it that way. Its "Gif" for me. xD ;;

 

[Miss Electric Daisy]

Neither. I simply spell it out and say "G-I-F" or "G-I-F's"

​

 

[drencrom]

Jif all the way because gif sounds wrong to me.

 

[Mars]

Gif seems weird to say for me, so I usually pronounce it as jif. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be gif.

 

[Dagfinn]

Gif is short for Graphic Interchange Format


Graphic, G


G


IT'S A BLOODY G


You and your nasty ass J, it's not cavity inducing peanut butter!

 

[Geun Sae]

Speaking of Gifs. I thought I might as well share this with y'all gif lovers.


This Week In One Gif:

 

[Penelope Burns]

Gif sounds nice and rolls off the tongue.


Jif sounds like salmonella and peanut butter.