# Giga? Jiga? Pronuciation of the billion metric prefix. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058 "2006-09-01T12:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/21 "2006-09-02T00:26:02Z")
Hard G. I’ve been in the tech field all of my adult life and the only time I ever heard “Jigga” was in BTTF. Let’s try it on for size: My laptop has 512 jigs of ram! Hey lookie here at this 2 jig thumb drive! Nope, doesn’t fit. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/22 "2006-09-02T01:47:11Z")
[QUOTE=bluethree] P.s. according to Dad, at that time if you studied sciences or engineering you were required to study German, as well. [/QUOTE] In German it would be pronounced with a harg G. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/23 "2006-09-02T01:56:49Z")
Googly. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/24 "2006-09-02T02:37:15Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] I say Gigga. Jigga sounds vaguely racist, like niggardly. [/QUOTE] Yep, So let us do it right: Gigga please… 🙂 … I’m terribly, terribly sorry. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/25 "2006-09-02T05:19:21Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Since the “factual answer” has already been given (either pronunciation is acceptable) but people still seem to be discussing the issue, moving from Great Debates to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/26 "2006-09-02T07:36:39Z")
Telecom tech here. We have many circuits at a Gig or more & I’ve only heard it pronounced with a hard G. A Gig’s worth of ethernet is called a Gig-E. Imagine if it were a Jig-E. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/27 "2006-09-02T10:10:37Z")
Many years in the frequency control industry and I never heard anyone say “jiga.” It was always Giga, as in GigaHertz. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/28 "2006-09-02T15:10:46Z")
Can we argue about GIF v JIF now? I say like “gift” - t. What say y’all? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/29 "2006-09-02T15:25:24Z")
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer] Can we argue about GIF v JIF now? I say like “gift” - t. What say y’all? [/QUOTE] Giraffics Ingterchange Format? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/30 "2006-09-02T15:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=Fugazi] Telecom tech here. We have many circuits at a Gig or more & I’ve only heard it pronounced with a hard G. A Gig’s worth of ethernet is called a Gig-E. Imagine if it were a Jig-E. [/QUOTE] “What do I get with this ethernet card?” “Well, a 2-year warranty, and you get Jig-E with it, of course.” ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/31 "2006-09-02T23:13:01Z")
[QUOTE=Fugazi] Telecom tech here. We have many circuits at a Gig or more & I’ve only heard it pronounced with a hard G. A Gig’s worth of ethernet is called a Gig-E. Imagine if it were a Jig-E. [/QUOTE] I’m wit’ youse! However, now I must know: Is your username pronounced Fugayasi or fujayzi? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/32 "2006-09-02T23:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=KlondikeGeoff] I’m wit’ youse! However, now I must know: Is your username pronounced Fugayasi or fujayzi? 😃 [/QUOTE] I always pronounced the band-name Foo-Gah-Zee. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/33 "2006-09-02T23:21:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] I always pronounced the band-name Foo-Gah-Zee. [/QUOTE] :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/34 "2006-09-03T12:28:54Z")
Studied physics in the 70’s and worked as a physicist in industry for the last 25 years. I was taught “jigga” and that it shares its root with “gigantic”. When hard drives got bigger than hundreds of megabytes, I heard the young salespeople at Best Buy say “giggabyte” as if it shares a root with “giggle”, which I did. But that’s the first I remember hearing it that way. My older dictionary has the soft g. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/35 "2006-09-03T19:51:16Z")
Like I said in the original thread, if your standard is the original Greek word, then γίγας is pronounced with a hard “G”. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058/36 "2006-09-03T20:47:59Z")
I will immediately start using the retro, ‘Jiga’, version for the sake of being retro. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giga-jiga-pronuciation-of-the-billion-metric-prefix/371058.md?page=1)