You might be wrong.
I admit that I was wrong, at least most of the time.
I pronounce the “gi” in GIF like the “gi” in giraffe or giant or gingerbread.
I don’t care if he created it; his method of pronunciation is stupid.
Hard G. Because the word graphics starts with a hard g.
Like Gift without the ‘t’.
If I hear Jif I think peanut butter, not files.
G like in Graphics, I like in Interchange, F like in Format.
If the dumb fucker wanted it pronounced different, he shouldn’t have made it an acronym for a word with a hard “G”. And he shouldn’t try and take on the OED about it, that’s just a losing fight.
My sentiments exactly.
I don’t see how the fact that the G stands for graphics matters for how GIF is pronounced.
Me, I’ve always used the j sound. Probably just because I like gin.
This +1
Indeed. Do the same people pronounce the “e” in “laser” like the “e” in “emission”?
Choosey trend buckers choose Jif?
This. The fact that he created it does not change the fact that he is wrong about how to pronounce it.
You nitpicked on that but not on whether one pronounces “stimulated” with a “z” sound at the start? (Don’t spend time with hospital employees; you’d freak at how JCAHO is said aloud.*) Pronunciation of acronyms tends to get mangled for the sake of simplicity, but it is not needed in this case, plus it directly goes against the pronunciation of the initial word for no apparent reason as well as sounding the same as a very common brand name. Or as I stated earlier, “stupid.” 
- “JAY-coh.” Long A, long o.
At least they’re not talking about violating hippoes.
/headdesk
I’m constantly amazed at how many people in this field get the number of A’s and P’s wrong in that acronym.
Compare to gift. Nobody would even be tempted to say jift.
The reason I pronounce it as a hard g is that it’s an acronym, and with a hard g there is no ambiguity as to what I am saying. If you say it with a soft g then it might be GIF and then again it might be JIF.
I guess if the guy invented it, he’s got a right to define how we say it, but I think the word belongs to the world now.
Correctly. ‘JIF’.
I never know which one to say so I always say “animation” (or “photo” if it’s not animated) instead of GIF even though it’s not technically accurate.
Weak, I know.
I guess I come out more on the side of jif, though.
I would love to hear an uncontrived example of such.
Both pronunciations have a wide usage and are acceptable, just as some people say caRIBbean and some say cariBEEan. If you think one pronunciation is more correct than another, you are the only one who is wrong. And I use whichever pronunciation will piss off the person I’m talking to.
“JIF”. That’s how I first heard them referred to back in the mid 90s and had never really considered otherwise until the last few years.