# How do YOU pronounce GIF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211 "2013-05-24T12:33:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/21 "2013-05-24T13:42:14Z")
GIF? That’s so [2012](http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/1114/Oxford-American-Dictionary-s-word-of-the-year-GIF). I usually hear it as Jiff. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/22 "2013-05-24T13:46:39Z")
Who has ever said it aloud in a conversation? I know what it means when I see it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/23 "2013-05-24T13:50:12Z")
Back in Compuserve days, it was “jif.” I am a hidebound old mossback and am unlikely to change my habits at this late juncture. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/24 "2013-05-24T13:57:39Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I don’t care if he created it; his method of pronunciation is stupid. > [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Hard G. Because the word graphics starts with a hard g. Hard g, for **sandra\_nz** ’s reason. I understand the creator’s pronunciation. Gee-eye-eff ==\> Gee-iff ==\> jif. But I prefer the graphics hard-g option. I think most people don’t know what gif stands for, and read it in isolation. Seen as a word, the usual pronunciation of that string of letters is with a hard g. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/25 "2013-05-24T14:16:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Seen as a word, the usual pronunciation of that string of letters is with a hard g. That’s true for words with a Germanic origin like “gift” or “girdle”, but not for words with a French or Italian origin like “giant” or “giraffe”. I don’t know which type predominates in English. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/26 "2013-05-24T14:16:32Z")
I say it with a hard G. Partly because I mentally group it with words like “gift”, “give”, “git”, “gill”, “giddy”, “gird”, “giggle”, “gimlet”, “gizmo”, and “gidget”, rather than “gin”, “ginger”, “gist”, and “gibberish”. (I’m having an easier time coming up with more hard G words, but there’s certainly no shortage of either in English.) But mostly because I’ve never heard anyone in real life pronounce it with a soft G. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/27 "2013-05-24T14:19:41Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I don’t care if he created it; his method of pronunciation is stupid. > [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Hard G. Because the word graphics starts with a hard g. > [@MrDibble](#): > > G like in _ **G** _raphics, I like in _ **I** _nterchange, F like in _ **F** _ormat. > > 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. Yes yes and yes. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/28 "2013-05-24T14:22:56Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > “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. This. Also, it seems to me that computer graphic nerds are more likely to say Jif. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/29 "2013-05-24T14:24:58Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > That’s true for words with a Germanic origin like “gift” or “girdle”, but not for words with a French or Italian origin like “giant” or “giraffe”. I don’t know which type predominates in English. English is a Germanic language. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/30 "2013-05-24T14:28:59Z")
Jif ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/31 "2013-05-24T14:30:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > English is a Germanic language. Well, yes, originally, but after the Norman conquest, it was [inundated with French vocabulary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin). ---
**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:** [May 24, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/32 "2013-05-24T14:36:45Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Well, yes, originally, but after the Norman conquest, it was [inundated with French vocabulary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin). It’s true that English borrowed heavily from French; but English is still Germanic in structure and pronunciation. For example, we say BUTT-on instead of boo-TONN. So it’s natural to default to the Germanic pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/33 "2013-05-24T15:25:50Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > Like Gift without the ‘t’. > > If I hear Jif I think peanut butter, not files. Like that. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/34 "2013-05-24T15:30:09Z")
From the Oxford American Dictionary: GIF may be pronounced with either a soft g (as in giant) or a hard g (as in graphic). The programmers who developed the format preferred a pronunciation with a soft g (in homage to the commercial tagline of the peanut butter brand Jif, they supposedly quipped “choosy developers choose GIF”). However, the pronunciation with a hard g is now very widespread and readily understood. Whichever pronunciation you use, it should of course be the same for both the noun and the verb. All of us are right! (Unless, of course, you pronounce it with a long I) ---
**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:** [May 24, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/35 "2013-05-24T15:31:32Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > (Unless, of course, you pronounce it with a long I) We could go with French and pronounce it _zheef_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/36 "2013-05-24T15:36:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > English is a Germanic language. Yes, but not all of its words are of Germanic origin. I say “gif,” hard G, on the analogy of “gift,” the only other common g-i-f word in English. But I also say “beummeup” for .bmp, which I’ve also never heard spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/37 "2013-05-24T15:39:38Z")
Like “gift” without the T. And this is the correct pronunciation because it is how _I_ pronounce it. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/38 "2013-05-24T15:43:07Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Yes, but not all of its words are of Germanic origin. ‘Target’ is from French, but most English-speakers don’t pronounce it ‘tar-ZHAY’. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/39 "2013-05-24T15:43:45Z")
Jif, or JEE-AYE-EF. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/40 "2013-05-24T15:47:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Target’ is from French, but most English-speakers don’t pronounce it ‘tar-ZHAY’. Au contraire, mon frere. All my smart-ass friend back in Texas would say they were going to tar-ZHAY when they went to Target. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=3)