r/EditingAndLayout • u/EditingAndLayout • Nov 08 '19

The Office When people start arguing about how to pronounce GIF

https://i.imgur.com/o2SIk6n.gifv
153 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

4

u/AlmostButNotQuit Nov 08 '19

Choosy moms choose GIF

9

u/EditingAndLayout Nov 08 '19

I just choose to never say GIF out loud. Problem solved.

4

u/RedditFact-Checker Nov 09 '19

Just a full-throated "Graphics Interchange Format" every time?

3

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '19

Personally, when people insist on jiff, I just ask them about their may-mays.

0

u/bluthru Nov 09 '19

When someone pronounces it correctly, why would you mispronounce a different word?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '19

Because language is not dictatorial. It shifts and changes constantly. It irritates me that people don't understand what begging the question is, or how to pronounce karaoke, but I also know when not to piss into the wind. Language gonna language, and as long as the idea gets communicated accurately, trying to fight it is silly.

Standing on an antiquated pronunciation is silly.

1

u/jundle Nov 09 '19

You da real MVP

7

u/SkoobyDoo Nov 08 '19

the giraffics in this gif are pretty good.

2

u/DontPeeInTheWater Nov 09 '19

I should have followed your advice, OP.

2

u/Gelatinous_cube Nov 09 '19

The general rule is this: if the letter after 'g' is 'e', 'i' or 'y', the pronunciation is a 'soft g' as in 'fringe'. Some examples of words with the soft 'g' are: general, giant, gymnastics, large, energy and change.

Also, the creator of the acronym uses these rules and doesn't place it in the exception pile.

Anyone who pronounces it with a hard G is either intellectually lazy and/or an intentional troll.

1

u/Niseione Nov 09 '19

I'll stick with what the original creators of the format say (always have).

3

u/DontPeeInTheWater Nov 09 '19

If he wanted it to be pronounced like 'jif', then he shouldn't have spelt it with a g.

1

u/Niseione Nov 09 '19

Gee whiz.

0

u/bluthru Nov 09 '19

It’s an acronym, so there is no changing the spelling of graphics. You should just swallow your pride and pronounce it correctly.

1

u/poopbutt734 Nov 09 '19

Then why do Americans say aluminum different than how British people do? The people around me growing up used a soft g in gif. Why is it ok for other words to have regional dialects?

-1

u/bluthru Nov 09 '19

https://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/04/08/aluminum-versus-aluminium-wher

You’re not a regional dialect, you’re a group of people who are pronouncing it wrong and refuse to correct yourselves.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '19

-1

u/bluthru Nov 09 '19

It’s not an old, general term, it’s a new term and you can ask the creator how to pronounce it.

If someone tells you how to pronounce their name, you don’t ignore how the proper pronunciation unless you’re a complete asshole.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '19

1

u/DontPeeInTheWater Nov 09 '19 edited Nov 09 '19

Lol.

I was making a tongue-in-cheek comment about why the vast majority of people pronounce 'gif' with a hard g, but sure, let's go with a demeaning grammar explanation.

In the end, 'correct' pronunciations are the ones that people use, rules be damned. People know the word 'gift', so they chose a hard g. Or perhaps they already know the product Jif and instinctually think that it must be pronounced differently. Either way, it doesn't matter. It's been 'decided', and insisting on following grammatical rules or appealing to the intensions of the format's inventor is silly at this point.

0

u/ThisCagedGod Nov 09 '19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iafa959JvY

0

u/bluthru Nov 09 '19 edited Nov 09 '19

https://youtu.be/MSJaSS_Zj0Y

Edit: I find it fascinating how butthurt people are about being wrong about this. Maybe it’s because they’re mainly really young.