Oscraps

How would YOU pronounce it?

AZK

AZK

Queen of the Universe
CHEERY O
In a work zoom meeting today the team leader referenced using gifs when posting in the company Slack app. She (jokingly) made the comment that "if you pronounce it jif, you're dead to me". She insisted it's pronounced with a hard g, not a soft g. To be honest, I never thought about it before, but if I were to say the word out loud, I would use a soft g. A Google search showed that it's actually been a point of contention ever since the term was invented in the late 1980's!

giphy.gif


So, what do you think? How would you pronounce it?
 
wombat146

wombat146

ONA - Administrator
CHEERY O
In my head I have always thought/said gif with a hard g, as in the first part of the word gift

Jif (with a J) reminds me of a cleaning product we had here Downunder years ago called Jiffy! No doubt referring to the idea that the product would clean everything very quickly! lol! While the word jiffy means 'a short time' we Aussies will often shorten it again by saying 'jif' like "See you in a jif." or "Will be there in a jif, just need to stop at the shop first."
 
tanteva

tanteva

Mistress of Mayhem
Hard G. Which is kinda interesting really, cuz in Swedish G before I is always soft.

Is there any word in English that has a soft G before an I?
 
  • Like
Reactions: AZK
Kythe

Kythe

Well-Known Member
GIF is the abbreviation for Graphics Interchange Format. It is not a proper word. As such it should be pronounced with the hard G
as in graphics. IMO
 
scribler

scribler

The O is my hOme.
CHEERY O
Ginger also has a soft g.

I originally used a hard G but after listening to this controversy for over two decades, I don’t think I’m even consistent in the pronunciation any more.
 
pachimac

pachimac

I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
CHEERY O
This is a big fight in the design world, but it is a name for GRAPHIC INTERCHANGE FORMAT. If you go by the words and the original persons who created it, it is a hard G, same as Graphic.
 
AZK

AZK

Queen of the Universe
CHEERY O
wombat146 said:
In my head I have always thought/said gif with a hard g, as in the first part of the word gift

Jif (with a J) reminds me of a cleaning product we had here Downunder years ago called Jiffy! No doubt referring to the idea that the product would clean everything very quickly! lol! While the word jiffy means 'a short time' we Aussies will often shorten it again by saying 'jif' like "See you in a jif." or "Will be there in a jif, just need to stop at the shop first."
Click to expand...

There's a brand of peanut butter here in the US called Jif, and some years back they ran an ad campaign playing off the controversy. That's what inspired the gif I used in my post! And, I use the term jif or jiffy the way you do, Ona.
 
AZK

AZK

Queen of the Universe
CHEERY O
Kythe said:
GIF is the abbreviation for Graphics Interchange Format. It is not a proper word. As such it should be pronounced with the hard G
as in graphics. IMO
Click to expand...

pachimac said:
This is a big fight in the design world, but it is a name for GRAPHIC INTERCHANGE FORMAT. If you go by the words and the original persons who created it, it is a hard G, same as Graphic.
Click to expand...

I read in several sources that the man who invented the gif, Steve Wilhite, said the abbreviation should be pronounced with a soft g, and that should be the final word! Obviously not, lol!
 
AZK

AZK

Queen of the Universe
CHEERY O
tanteva said:
Hard G. Which is kinda interesting really, cuz in Swedish G before I is always soft.

Is there any word in English that has a soft G before an I?
Click to expand...

I was wondering about other languages, because I believe German doesn't even have a soft g, does it?

Also, gigolo. :cool:

scribler said:
Ginger also has a soft g.

I originally used a hard G but after listening to this controversy for over two decades, I don’t think I’m even consistent in the pronunciation any more.
Click to expand...

Until this topic came up yesterday, I didn't even know there was a controversy!
 
pachimac

pachimac

I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
CHEERY O
All I can say is having been in the design business (both web and graphic) with my husband, if you call it JIF with a soft G, you'd get laughed out of the place! (Been there, done that...)

1669228802151-png.384038
 
  • Like
Reactions: AZK
Madi

Madi

Diane
CHEERY O
In Dutch we have our own versions of the hard and soft G,
I live in the Hard G part of our country, in the south and close to Belgium it is a softer G,
but still sounds nothing like the english version of it.
I would not know how to compare it to an english sound/letter.

i found this:
If you're a native English speaker, you can disregard almost every instinct you have about pronouncing G's. In Dutch, a G is pronounced quite like the German [ch], as in Bach. Or, while it doesn't exist in Standard English, you might also be familiar with this sound in Scottish words like “loch” and “ach.”
 
  • Like
Reactions: AZK
faerywings

faerywings

The Loopy-O
CHEERY O
AZK said:
I was wondering about other languages, because I believe German doesn't even have a soft g, does it?

Also, gigolo. :cool:



Until this topic came up yesterday, I didn't even know there was a controversy!
Click to expand...
bwuahahah!! I had gigolo in my list too-- and then deleted it and went with ginormous instead.!!!
 
  • Haha
Reactions: AZK
AZK

AZK

Queen of the Universe
CHEERY O
Madi said:
In Dutch we have our own versions of the hard and soft G,
I live in the Hard G part of our country, in the south and close to Belgium it is a softer G,
but still sounds nothing like the english version of it.
I would not know how to compare it to an english sound/letter.

i found this:
If you're a native English speaker, you can disregard almost every instinct you have about pronouncing G's. In Dutch, a G is pronounced quite like the German [ch], as in Bach. Or, while it doesn't exist in Standard English, you might also be familiar with this sound in Scottish words like “loch” and “ach.”
Click to expand...

That is so interesting! I am not one of those people who has a natural ability to speak other languages, but I'm always fascinated by how the same letters can have totally different pronunciations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top