- #1
larkspur
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GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
Do you pronounce it with a plosive as in the word "gift" or with an affricate as in "giraffe"?
Here is what the freedictionary.com says: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Animated+GIF
Do you pronounce it with a plosive as in the word "gift" or with an affricate as in "giraffe"?
Here is what the freedictionary.com says: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Animated+GIF
Most English-speakers pronounce the acronym 'GIF' with a plosive, as in "gift". Some, however, still pronounce it with an affricate as in "giraffe". There is to suggest that the format's creators used the plosive pronunciation, and it makes sense that they should have done so: most instances of the phoneme 'gi' at the beginning of a word are indeed pronounced with an plosive as in 'gift, give, ...'. However, the counter-intuitive option sometimes takes hold, as it did for the 'crossword' puzzle, which its inventor Arthur Wynne had originally named the 'word-cross'. Most pragmatic commentators would now agree that the overwhelming number of people who use the plosive 'g' as was originally intended and that the variant with the affricate pronunciation (even if by de facto) is the incorrect pronunciation.