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Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 11:16
by Valkyrie-Lemons
So apparently a GIF is meant to be pronounced as "Jif"
[
Story]
I've never heard it pronounced "Jif" since I often see it written on the interwebs, not spoken, but how do you say it?
Personally, I say it with a hard G, since GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and you don't pronounce Graphics with a "J" sound but rather a hard "G" sound.
Plus if you're Eastern European/Balkans, wouldn't that J then become a Y? Which would be even more confusing.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 11:40
by King Kool
I say Biff.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 11:43
by Keab42
I've always pronounced it Gif, because I'd only ever seen it written down and that's how it made sense to pronounce it for me. For pretty much the same reasons as Valkyrie-Lemons.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 11:45
by auberginequeen
I say "gif" with a hard G or else I can't help but think of peanut butter.
On that note:
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 11:59
by empath
...that looks a LOT like a friend of mine.
But yeah, I say it with a hard G because it's an acronym with the first letter
based on a word with a hard 'g' sound.
Sorry, Mr. Wilhite; we're all wrong, but when there's a hundred soldiers and 99 of them screw up and start marching with their right foot first, the Sergeant still chews out the one grunt marching 'out of step'...
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 12:09
by Elomin Sha
Jif used to be grease cleaner in the UK and also named for something squirted on pancakes during Pancake Tuesday.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 12:11
by Yaxley
I not only pronounce it with a hard g, but also a long i, just to be difficult.
GIF FOR LIFE!
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:41
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
I don't prenounce it as it's a term that never comes up in verbal communications.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:44
by Sieg Reyu
Gi makes a J sound. Giraffe, Giant, Gibberish. It only makes sense.
But English is stupid.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:46
by Graham
Hard G for life, don't even care.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:50
by Ptangmatik
Elomin Sha wrote:Jif used to be grease cleaner in the UK and also named for something squirted on pancakes during Pancake Tuesday.
Damn straight.
You wanted to be careful about keeping those two separate too, otherwise pancake day would be horrific
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:51
by Valkyrie-Lemons
Sieg Reyu wrote:Gi makes a J sound. Giraffe, Giant, Gibberish. It only makes sense.
But English is stupid.
What about Git, Gimp or Gill?
Ptangmatik wrote:Elomin Sha wrote:Jif used to be grease cleaner in the UK and also named for something squirted on pancakes during Pancake Tuesday.
Damn straight.
You wanted to be careful about keeping those two separate too, otherwise pancake day would be horrific
Ha, I remember always been confused by the two. I always wondered why they had the same name.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 14:57
by Sieg Reyu
Valkyrie-Lemons wrote:Sieg Reyu wrote:Gi makes a J sound. Giraffe, Giant, Gibberish. It only makes sense.
But English is stupid.
What about Git, Gimp or Gill?
Sieg Reyu wrote:But English is stupid.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:04
by LogicSword
Valkyrie-Lemons wrote:Ptangmatik wrote:Elomin Sha wrote:Jif used to be grease cleaner in the UK and also named for something squirted on pancakes during Pancake Tuesday.
Damn straight.
You wanted to be careful about keeping those two separate too, otherwise pancake day would be horrific
Ha, I remember always been confused by the two. I always wondered why they had the same name.
Jack Dee.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:06
by Lord Hosk
Dear inventor of thing I dont care what you say Jif makes no sense I dont care what stupid peanut butter reference you were going for you invented a means to transmit graphics not jafics.
I also like the reference to "A coiner effectively loses control of a word once it's out there..."
Kinda like when al gore invented the internet he didnt think it would be used exclusively for porn and stealing movies. When JVC invented the VHS they didnt think it would be used exclusively for porn and stealing movies, and when Sony developed home DVDRs they didnt think they would be used exclusively for... wait a minute When the new york times created times square they...
OK there is a trend developing here.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:06
by Lavos
we used to have an animated gif thread somewhere, and one of the prominent users (her name slips my mind
) called it jiff, and i've called it jiff ever since
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:08
by Ptangmatik
THAT'S What I was thinking of! Trying to remember where I remember that from has been driving me nuts. Thanks Logic
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:20
by Drecon
I always pronounce it in the dutch way, with a hard, scraping, guttural G (it's akin to the Scottish G, as in "Loch").
Incidentally, the dutch word "Gif" means "poison".
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:22
by King Kool
Graham wrote:Hard G for life, don't even care.
Wasn't that Hard G your gang name when you were in the Bloodz?
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 15:41
by Can't Wear Hats
Hard G is the only way. You know what, Mr Wilhite?
(Yes I will keep using this
GIF at every possible opportunity.)
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 16:56
by Lord Hosk
I love the gif so much because the glasses miss his eyes, it works on multiple levels.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 19:31
by tamaness
Apparently it's a big issue? Either pronunciation is acceptable.
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 19:49
by Sieg Reyu
Lavos wrote:we used to have an animated gif thread somewhere, and one of the prominent users (her name slips my mind
) called it jiff, and i've called it jiff ever since
OH MY GOD IT'S LAVOS!!!!!
YAY LAVOS IS BACK!!!
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 22:54
by psychopompos
Sieg Reyu wrote:Valkyrie-Lemons wrote:Sieg Reyu wrote:Gi makes a J sound. Giraffe, Giant, Gibberish. It only makes sense.
But English is stupid.
What about Git, Gimp or Gill?
Sieg Reyu wrote:But English is stupid.
FUN FACT! One of the easiest ways of telling whether an English word that starts with G comes from a Germanic or a Romance language is to look at its pronunciation!
Words that come from Anglo-Saxon, Danish, or Norse will tend to begin with /g/ (hard G), like get, give, gill, etc. On the other hand, words come from French, Latin, or even Greek (YES I KNOW IT'S NOT A ROMANCE LANGUAGE JUST ROLL WITH IT) will begin with a /dʒ/ (soft G, or J), such as gist, gem, gyroscope, etc.
However, I don't know exactly what the protocol is for acronyms. Largely because acronyms in English were INCREDIBLY uncommon before 1900, and didn't really become ubiquitous until World War II. So, pronounce it how you want.
ETYMOLOGY FOR THE WIN!
(but yeah, it's totally /gɪf/)
Re: Gif or Jif?
Posted: 22 May 2013, 23:20
by Geoff_B
Give it a few years, and it'll be rebranded as Cif (in the UK at least
)
