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

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The discussion centers on the pronunciation of "GIF" (Graphics Interchange Format), with the majority of participants favoring the plosive pronunciation, similar to "gift." Some mention that the format's creators originally pronounced it as "JIF," leading to ongoing debate. The conversation touches on phonetics, with participants discussing the difference between plosive and affricate sounds, and the prevalence of the plosive pronunciation among English speakers. Additionally, there are humorous exchanges about pronunciation variations for other words, like "data," and the cultural implications of language. Overall, while a significant portion of users prefer "gif" with a hard "g," the existence of the "jif" pronunciation is acknowledged, reflecting a broader conversation about language evolution and personal preference.
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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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I pronounce it with a plosive g.
 
It's pronounced "gif"
 
Pengwuino said:
It's pronounced "gif"

:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
I pronounce it with the plosive.
 
Moonbear said:
I pronounce it with the plosive.

'plosive?

Could you 'plain that? :smile:
 
Math Is Hard said:
'plosive?

Could you 'plain that? :smile:
:smile: It's what happens when you say it with a mouthful of crackers. :biggrin:
 
Moonbear said:
:smile: It's what happens when you say it with a mouthful of crackers. :biggrin:
LOL! you shouldn't do that when I have a mouthful of Coke! :smile: :smile:
 
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).
:smile: 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. :rolleyes:
 
  • #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. :rolleyes:
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.
:smile: 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:
:smile: 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. [...]
:smile: That is exactly what I was thinking about.
 
  • #31
Gokul43201 said:
Plosive g here too - just like 'gift' (jypht).
Moonbear said:
:smile: Hopefully MIH already finished her Coke and Evo hasn't started on her coffee yet.

heh heh. Jokul 'ploded! :smile:
 
  • #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. :smile:
 
  • #36
I waver. Sometimes your way and sometimes dottum and dotta.
 
  • #38
Math Is Hard said:
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.
Nope, it's a hard G as in gift.

A poor girl in our data training class said "dahtah", and the instructor jumped down her throat and told her to never pronounce it that way again. It's "DAY tah" It has become skewed though over the years, but back in the early 70's we only designed DAY tah circuits.
 
  • #39
Evo said:
Nope, it's a hard G as in gift.
I first heard it as "jiff" probably around 1989 and it stuck. Here's some more people sold on the "jiff" pronounciantion:
http://www.olsenhome.com/gif/
CompuServe used to distribute a graphics display program called CompuShow.
In the documentation for version 8.33 in the FAQ section, it states:
The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), pronounced "JIF", was designed by CompuServe and the official specification released in June of 1987.
So, I'm not so crazy after all. :smile:
A poor girl in our data training class said "dahtah", and the instructor jumped down her throat and told her to never pronounce it that way again. It's "DAY tah" It has become skewed though over the years, but back in the early 70's we only designed DAY tah circuits.
wow. harsh! We're so lenient in California. Tomato, tomahto, whatever. :smile:
 
  • #40
OK, now do Giga, as in Gigabyte.
 
  • #41
It's got to be Gigabyte as in 'gig'.

Because 'Jiggabyte' just sounds like it would cost you a 20 to get one for the groom-to-be.
 
  • #42
I pronounce it zjlllrfff but then I'm from Zunarb 7, and we have a 4 ft tongue that rolls up to fit in a small mouth.

I don't think it matters how you pronounce most things, just as long as they don't shoot you for being an ugly reptillian space monster. You Earthlings are wierd.:rolleyes::smile:
 
  • #43
Schrodinger's Dog said:
I pronounce it zjlllrfff but then I'm from Zunarb 7, and we have a 4 ft tongue that rolls up to fit in a small mouth.
My wife wants your phone number.
 
  • #44
DaveC426913 said:
My wife wants your phone number.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to make a "Jim Carrey in Earth Girls are Easy" comment.
 
  • #45
George Jones said:
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to make a "Jim Carrey in Earth Girls are Easy" comment.
:biggrin: ooh, great movie! I have the soundtrack.
Cause I'm a blonde, yeah, yeah, yeah.
 
  • #46
pronouced withte the "g"et...i don't think i know anyone who pronounces it "jif"
 
  • #47
JIF is peanut butter. :biggrin:

Gif is graphics. :rolleyes:
 
  • #48
neurocomp2003 said:
pronouced withte the "g"et...i don't think i know anyone who pronounces it "jif"

Last night, within the span of a minute, my wife pronounced it both ways. :biggrin:
 
  • #49
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF
Pronunciation: Some English-speakers pronounce the acronym "GIF" with a plosive (as in the word "gift"). However, the creators of the file format pronounced the acronym as "JIF" during its unveiling presentation in the 1980s. Surveys reveal that around 70% of speakers prefer the plosive pronunciation. [3], which is consistent with the pronunciation of the individual words in the acronym.

So about 30% of us choosy mothers choose "jiff". :biggrin:
 

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