How do you pronounce it? GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

  • Thread starter larkspur
  • Start date
In summary: I also say the first vowel of data sometimes with long a and sometimes with short a. I've never really decided which I like better.Gibe is a word? I guess I should have just consulted a dictionary before asking. I'm pretty braindead tonight.
  • #1
larkspur
515
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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

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.
 
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  • #2
I pronounce it with a plosive g.
 
  • #3
It's pronounced "gif"
 
  • #4
Pengwuino said:
It's pronounced "gif"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
  • #5
I pronounce it with the plosive.
 
  • #6
Moonbear said:
I pronounce it with the plosive.

'plosive?

Could you 'plain that? :rofl:
 
  • #7
Math Is Hard said:
'plosive?

Could you 'plain that? :rofl:
:rofl: It's what happens when you say it with a mouthful of crackers. :biggrin: :yuck:
 
  • #8
Moonbear said:
:rofl: It's what happens when you say it with a mouthful of crackers. :biggrin: :yuck:
LOL! you shouldn't do that when I have a mouthful of Coke! :rofl: :rofl:
 
  • #9
GIF is pronounced like "gift" without the t. The g you say when you do that is the plosive one.
 
  • #10
Good grief! :wink: :biggrin:
 
  • #11
Plosive g here too - just like 'gift' (jypht).
 
  • #12
Gokul43201 said:
'Plosive g here too - just like 'gift' (jypht).
:rofl: Hopefully MIH already finished her Coke and Evo hasn't started on her coffee yet.

In less technical circles, I call it a hard g. It just makes sense, since it comes from the word "graphical," which is also a hard g.
 
  • #13
See why we need to use a more modern version of english where we spell words like they sound? Those crackpots were on to something afterall. :uhh:
 
  • #14
cyrusabdollahi said:
See why we need to use a more modern version of english where we spell words like they sound? Those crackpots were on to something afterall. :uhh:
It's spelled exactly as it sounds (though, technically, it's not a word anyway). :biggrin: I can't help it if there are people who can't read and pronounce it with a soft g.

Can you think of any single syllable words that start with 'gi' that use a soft 'g'? I can only think of words starting with 'ge' that use a soft g (i.e., gem).
 
  • #15
What is a 'soft' g?

gem sounds as harsh as get or together.

They all have the geh sound.

Edit: Oh, I see now. Gem - Jem

Gimble - gehm-ble.

What about 'gat' ? Thats more of a gah-t
 
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  • #16
I think I say it like jif.
 
  • #17
Moonbear said:
Can you think of any single syllable words that start with 'gi' that use a soft 'g'?
Gift, gill, git, gilt, gild and (this one's a little hard to say) gig.
 
  • #18
Gokul43201 said:
Gift, gill, git, gilt, gild and (this one's a little hard to say) gig.
:rofl: Well, out of that list, I guess 'git' meets the challenge. That is unless you're saying, "Git along little doggy!" :biggrin:
 
  • #19
mattmns said:
I think I say it like jif.
me, too. Just like the peanut butter. But I hear people say it both ways all the time.
I also say the first vowel of data sometimes with long a and sometimes with short a. I've never really decided which I like better.
 
  • #20
Moonbear said:
:rofl: Well, out of that list, I guess 'git' meets the challenge.
What? It does? <note: this is no longer me :biggrin:>

But as for your not-very-carefully-posed challenge there's at least 'gist' and 'gibe'.
 
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  • #21
Math Is Hard said:
I also say the first vowel of data sometimes with long a and sometimes with short a. I've never really decided which I like better.
Guess you're not a Trekkie then. :frown:
 
  • #22
How do you pronounce .rar?
 
  • #23
raaa-r (like roar, but no oh sound)

<text unlimited>
 
  • #24
Pengwuino said:
How do you pronounce .rar?
pee-ri-yuhd rahr
 
  • #25
Gokul43201 said:
<note: this is no longer me>
Then who are you, and what have you done with the real Gokul? :confused:

But as for your not-very-carefully-posed challenge there's at least 'gist' and 'gibe'.
'gibe' is a word? I guess I should have just consulted a dictionary before asking. I'm pretty braindead tonight.
 
  • #26
I think 'gibe' is something like 'mock'.
 
  • #27
Gokul43201 said:
Guess you're not a Trekkie then. :frown:
Hey! Them's fightin' words!:mad:
 
  • #28
Gokul43201 said:
I think 'gibe' is something like 'mock'.
Aha! It can also be spelled 'jibe.' I'd never seen it spelled with a 'g' before.
http://www.answers.com/topic/gibe

I don't mind unusual spellings, but I do wish we could all agree on one spelling per word. :rolleyes:
 
  • #29
Affricate all the way, baby.
 
  • #30
Math Is Hard said:
[...]Just like the peanut butter. [...]
:rofl: That is exactly what I was thinking about.
 
  • #31
Gokul43201 said:
Plosive g here too - just like 'gift' (jypht).
Moonbear said:
:rofl: Hopefully MIH already finished her Coke and Evo hasn't started on her coffee yet.

heh heh. Jokul 'ploded! :rofl:
 
  • #32
I pronounce it how it looks... "gif" with a G as in gah
 
  • #33
Math Is Hard said:
Hey! Them's fightin' words!:mad:
Well, then there's only only way to pronounce d-a-t-a. Now say after me : loo-ten-uhnt cum-man-duhr day-tah
 
  • #34
Gokul43201 said:
Well, then there's only only way to pronounce d-a-t-a. Now say after me : loo-ten-uhnt cum-man-duhr day-tah
My Alabama cousins call him Day-ter.:biggrin:
 
  • #35
I agree, it's day-ta, but a single datum should be pronounced with a really nasal Joyzee a. :biggrin: I don't even know how to explain that sound in writing...not ah, not ay, more like the a in apple, but you've got to give it a good dose of nasal-ness. :rofl:
 
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