I'd pronounce it Graphics Interchange Format Friend
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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The G in GIF stands for Giraffics.
“Sally”
Did you know SCUBA is an acronym?
Like Griff but without the r.
Like the file format.
No, the file format uses the same g sound that you get in gigantic.
anything besides the peanut butter pronunciation sounds weird
You'd pronounce it "peanut butter?"
I suppose I would pronounce it like, "Giff".
Exactly how it's spelled.
I would rather nickname it 'raff
The same as how I would pronounce "giraffe" but without the "ira" and "e".
Gff?
Girlfriends forever.
I would pronounce it with a Ezh (Ʒ) (the sound in pleasure), as that's the sound we use to pronounce it in my language.
Still not "jiff". I'm not a coward.
Jiff is the minority opinion, how would it be cowardly to use it?
Probably like the peanut butter, because I wouldn't want it to be confused with my gorilla with the name spelled the same way, but pronounced with a hard 'g' sound.
I would pronounce it as stupid long horses.
I'd rather nickname it Jeff. Jeff Bezos.
Before or after you shave it bald?
Yes.
I'd quit using nicknames because of my lack of creativity and style
Giff with a hard g.
Yes there are many examples of soft g before i, like gist. But English orthography isn't self-consistent, so ultimately all these arguments become reductio ad absurdam.
~~G in GIF stands for Graphics. Period.~~
I agree that g for graphics isn't a terribly good argument one way or another. But the reductio ad absurdam part is the more important bit. All language, ultimately, is arbitrary, with successful information exchange being the only measure that really matters. It's especially so for something like GIF that occurs far more often in text than speech.
I find the "G stands for graphics" an extremely weak argument. In English the pronunciation of acronyms never seem to consider the pronunciation of the original words. Examples include scuba and laser. If you pronounced those like the letters in the original words, they would be pronounced scuhba and laseer.
That said, pronounce it how you want, I don't care. You don't need a reason to pronounce it one way or another beyond "this is the way I heard first" or "this is the way I hear the most". But the "graphics" reason is not a good one because (at least in English) nothing else follows that rule.
I choose giraffics.
In that case, my vote is on GIF with the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ from genre and measure.
It's ✯✯fancy✯✯
I would pronounce it Harold
I think I see where you're going with this...
Giff, the double f means hard g to me. Whereas the single f in gif demands a soft g.
"Giraffe" etymologistically speaking has roots in the Middle East, giving it a "je" sound: jarraf, zarafa, et al
So if it's "Giff" like "giraffe" - /dʒɪf/ - soft g like "George". If it's named after someone with a name like Kathy Lee Gifford, then hard G.spoiler
"ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا (zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا (zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا (pā, “leg”)".
I would pronounce it like Giraffe without the ra - unlike the GIF file format which is like Gift without the t.
If the only reason to pronounce it 'jif' is because of the context of it being a giraffe, then its a bad name and it also kinda proves the point of everyone who says that 'gif' shouldn't be pronounced 'jif'.
Oh shit wait no he has a point