How do you pronounce GIF? Does it matter?

Posted by crysmeg on December 17, 2012 · Leave a Comment 

As a Graphic/Web Designer and New Media enthusiast, I pronounce it gif like gift. I am a logical person when it comes to language. How would you pronounce it?

Sentence first

When Oxford Dictionaries named the acronym GIF (graphics interchange format) as their US word of the year (in its verb use), debates resurfaced over its correct pronunciation. The short answer is that both /gɪf/ and /dʒɪf/ are fine – you can say GIF with the hard g of gift or the soft g of gin. Or you can say the letters: “gee eye eff”.

Some people insist on soft-g GIF, as in “jif”. They say it’s “up to the creators”, and “jif” is what the format’s inventors indicated. But this presumes a non-existent authority: the creators don’t get to lay down a planet-wide law, nor does anyone on their behalf. Pronunciation develops through general agreement – it’s up to everyone who uses the term – and most people seem to prefer hard-gGIF.

Gi– is inherently ambiguous, pronunciation-wise. We have hard-g gift, gills

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