The creator said its jif many many many many years after it was created and long after GIF became the default pronunciation and only said it was jif to stir the pot so he could watch the drama from it. If you make something and fail to declare what it is called in a timely manner the rest of the world will name it for you most likely with 2 or 3 different names
Also, the creator is not a linguist, English pronunciation rules favour the g in gift for a word which is almost exactly the same as gift, save for a final t
Everything in English follows rules. There are just a fuck ton more rules than you are taught in school unless you are going into linguistics or literature
It’s not that important outside a critical application where one term could be mistaken for another with disasterous results, and it’s hard to imagine a combat radio operator needing to relay gif based messages with crucial accuracy. Really there isn’t another GIF, and the only other JIF’s I am aware of are Jiff peanut butter- and context alone makes those hard to mix up is most cases, and the shortening of “Jiffy,” to “Jiff” when referring to something happening very quickly, and that term is fairly uncommon and also hard to mix up. So- either way you say it people are likely to understand what you mean and the communication is still clear without obfuscating the English language. This one can be thrown in the same pile as regional dialectic differences in pronunciation which don’t really require any expenditure of effort to “correct” as they aren’t linguistically offensive.
Lol. Sorry to disappoint. That’s just what they called them way back when where I was coming up. So it stuck in my mind and now the other way sounds weird to me. Plus it made sense. It’s Graphics Interchange Format- not Jraphics Interchange Format- I wouldn’t say Jraphics so why would I say Jif?
Geographic, gist, geriatric, germane,
Saying gif with a hard ‘g’ is simply insane.
But different opinions are no need to complain,
Our FunSubstance bromance will always remain.
*man-crushes on @guest_ mildly enough to be complimentary but no so much as not to be offensive*
none of those words are acronyms and none of them start with gr. A better reference point example is the "grid overwatch division" or GOD from shadowrun. Gr like the word in graphical in gif and a hard G in the acronym the only difference being that GOD is a backronym.
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Edited 6 years ago
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· 6 years ago
Gift, girl, god, guard, saying gif with a soft ‘g’ is simply insane @granlobomalo
So, I agree with guest_ that it doesn't matter how you say it because everyone knows what you're intending to say. No one's going to die because there was a communication breakdown.
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I am not a linguist, but I am familiar with several languages to varying degrees. From what I've put together, there are hard vowels and soft vowels that affect 'c' and 'g.' The hard vowels are A, O, and U. Those trigger the hard 'c' and 'g,' like in cab or golf. In English, we use H to trigger a middle 'c,' like in chin or chili.
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The soft vowels are E, I, and Y. Those make 'c' and 'g' soft like in cilia or giraffe. In Italian, if you want to force a hard 'c' or 'g,' you use an H, as in spaghetti or Chianti.
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In English, there are obviously exceptions to everything. Get, give, and gift are all exceptions. I say jif, though. If we spelled it GHIF, I'd use a hard 'g,' or of we stuck true to its roots as graphics information file we could spell it GRIF and all be happy. Those spelling both murder old 8.3
That's not how acronyms works or at least how the rules for acronyms are supposed to work. With hard consonants more words in English break the I = soft than follow it because it's a false rule. It's not actually something in English word convention.
The naming convention part is debatable. As you mention- and kudos on the breakdown btw- plenty of English words have a hard G Followed by an I, but gif is not a word. It is an acronym and made of the letters and phonetic sounds of the root words. Just like people tend to say “Jay-peg” instead of “Juh-peg” for JPEG. But! There is an argument for conventions. The Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm was patented. That makes “gif” a brand name AND a file type. So the holder of the brand rightscan determine how to pronounce a name, just as a parent can put “Wyrbdk” on a child’s birth certificate and say their name is “Joe, spelled different.” As a file type the creators input doesn’t matter any more than Kleenex can dictate how to pronounce the word “tissue.” We also must remember it’s a 2 way street and people call regular tissues- Kleenex often. But English is modified through popular use, and so.... either is acceptable although “jif” still doesn’t make sense to me as anything but brand jargon.
@yimmye Ha! I love it.
@bethorien Stop cockblocking my fanboy poem, LOL. Keep this sort of thing up and I’ll write one for you, too!
@guest_ After these compelling arguments, I’ll use a hard g going forward (so I can move onto the next meme)!
In other words- The Lego Group insists that a single piece never be called a “Lego” and that Lego not be used stand alone outside branding. It is a “Lego Block” “Lego Element” part of the “Lego building system.” They may insist as they like. They own the word. But... I’ll still say “Ouch! I stepped on a lego!” And most people will still think it’s ofd if I say “Ouch! I stepped on an element of the Lego building system!” “Let’s play with Lego blocks!” That kid... good chance people will think they are off.
@granlobomalo- no worries. Do you. The world is more beautiful when we all have little differences. Just sharing my thoughts and enjoying hearing others thoughts while challenging each other! Enjoy the memes though, a fresh crop is never far away.
Saying gif with a hard ‘g’ is simply insane.
But different opinions are no need to complain,
Our FunSubstance bromance will always remain.
*man-crushes on @guest_ mildly enough to be complimentary but no so much as not to be offensive*
,
I am not a linguist, but I am familiar with several languages to varying degrees. From what I've put together, there are hard vowels and soft vowels that affect 'c' and 'g.' The hard vowels are A, O, and U. Those trigger the hard 'c' and 'g,' like in cab or golf. In English, we use H to trigger a middle 'c,' like in chin or chili.
,
The soft vowels are E, I, and Y. Those make 'c' and 'g' soft like in cilia or giraffe. In Italian, if you want to force a hard 'c' or 'g,' you use an H, as in spaghetti or Chianti.
,
In English, there are obviously exceptions to everything. Get, give, and gift are all exceptions. I say jif, though. If we spelled it GHIF, I'd use a hard 'g,' or of we stuck true to its roots as graphics information file we could spell it GRIF and all be happy. Those spelling both murder old 8.3
@bethorien Stop cockblocking my fanboy poem, LOL. Keep this sort of thing up and I’ll write one for you, too!
@guest_ After these compelling arguments, I’ll use a hard g going forward (so I can move onto the next meme)!
side note my phone suggested an auto fill of either "MOVE YA WOMAN" or "MOVE YA GIRL"