Gif's inventor says ignore dictionaries and say 'Jif'

[pwsincd]

The creator of the Gif graphics format has said that his invention should be pronounced so it starts with a "j" rather than with a hard "g".
Steve Wilhite told the New York Times that he was "annoyed" there was still a debate over how to say the acronym.
He added that the Oxford English Dictionary was wrong to say it could be pronounced both ways.

And I suppose we should call jpegs gaypegs ?

Posted this news as its potentially puntastic.

Source

 

[kehkou]

That's how I've always pronounced it.

 

[jan777]

I pronounce it.... gee-eye-ef.

 

[pwsincd]

That's how I've always pronounced it.

Seriously ?

Why would you pronounce Graphics interchange format : GIF as Jraphics Interchange format : JIF ?

you're gokinj right ?

 

[Nathan Drake]

Yeah, I saw this before, and it's still stupid. The idiot can shove a sock down his throat, as we aren't going to ignore general pronunciation for his idiocy.

 

[kehkou]

Seriously?

Why would you pronounce Graphics interchange format : GIF as Jraphics Interchange format : JIF ?

you're gokinj right ?

because 'gif' sounds wierd and I eat peanut butter. To me it's like the word 'ginger'.

 

[Minox]

Jif is a detergent used when cleaning, why would I want to confuse things? :|

Spoiler

 

[Ergo]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for our intrepid graphic format designer, but once you put words out there, they cease to be under your control and *will* change over time.

 

[rizzod]

Sorry bud, don't care if you created the earth. You Spelled it with a G.. we'll pronounce it the way we want.

 

[kehkou]

Jif is a detergent used when cleaning, why would I want to confuse things? :|

Not where I live.

Spoiler

 

[Veho]

I still don't get how it should be pronounced. Anyone have the phonetic spelling?

 

[Xale]

Yeah, I saw this before, and it's still stupid. The idiot can shove a sock down his throat.

This is what I thought of lol

 

[pwsincd]

Well its an acronym so sure you pronounce it as the initial letters of the full words are pronounced?

 

[Snailface]

For all the beautiful images .gif has destroyed, we should pronounce it in the least flattering way possible.

Spoiler: The Caveat Says:

Ok, the animated .gif variety kinda redeems the format a bit.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Jif is a detergent used when cleaning, why would I want to confuse things? :|

Spoiler

No its this:

 

[kirokun]

I still don't get how it should be pronounced. Anyone have the phonetic spelling?

According to the creator it should sound close to "Jeep" just substitute the 'p' with the 'f'.

I also call it jif instead of gif... like someone said earlier, we can call it what we want.

 

[Veho]

well its an acronym so sure you pronounce it as the initial letters of the full words are pronounced ?

Geeayeeff?

It's like "gift" without "t" so I pronounce it that way. Except when I'm making fun of stuff and then I pronounce it /ʒɪf/.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I still don't get how it should be pronounced. Anyone have the phonetic spelling?

He's actually wrong. He may have came up with the word, but he's wrong about it's pronunciation. While he has a point as to why it is pronounced JIF, he's somewhat wrong too because of the way the english language works and with abbreviations.

The hard-G pronunciation of the letter G usually comes when a, o, or u follows it (think gas, good, or guy). We pronounce G's as the soft-G when i, e, or y follow it (think giraffe, German, or analogy). There are exceptions of course, but in general practice, Wilhite has his point. GIF is followed by an I.

That's his argument, and logically it makes sense, but:

The problem with Wilhite's thinking is how we see acronyms. Are they their own words or do they stand for something? Is BBC a word? Buhbuhck? Or is it B-B-C. If you combine the letters into a word, how does jay-peg for JPEG make sense as opposed to juh-peg? If GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, does the 'Graphics' portion of the phrase point toward a hard-G in the acronym?

It can't make any sense for it to be pronounced "Jif". While he brings up a good point, it becomes moot when you take that GIF isn't a word, but an abbreviation for Graphics.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Sorry bud, don't care if you created the earth. You Spelled it with a G.. we'll pronounce it the way we want.
snip

god damn beat me to it!

 

[Veho]

He's actually wrong. He may have came up with the word, but he's wrong about it's pronunciation.

I thought that with all the loanwords and archaisms and stuff, pronunciation in English is a matter of consensus. Especially when it comes to names. Sort of like with Leicester or Worcestershire.