# 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:** 3
**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, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/41 "2013-05-24T15:47:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Target’ is from French, but most English-speakers don’t pronounce it ‘tar-ZHAY’. All borrowed words are nativized to some extent, but because that’s how language works, not because English is a _Germanic_ language. Of course, _gif_ is a coined word, which is different. ---
**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, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/42 "2013-05-24T15:55:52Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > All borrowed words are nativized to some extent, but because that’s how language works, not because English is a _Germanic_ language. > > Of course, _gif_ is a coined word, which is different. What I’m saying is that when an English-speaker reads an unfamiliar word, s/he defaults to the English pronunciation rather than French. If an English-speaker reads ‘gif’, the default would be to pronounce it as an actual word, with a hard g. Suppose you didn’t know how the word ‘paradigm’ is pronounced. Would you read it as ‘para-dime’? Or would you rely on your English and pronounce it ‘para-dij-um’ or ‘para-digg-um’? ---
**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, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/43 "2013-05-24T15:57:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What I’m saying is that when an English-speaker reads an unfamiliar word, s/he defaults to the English pronunciation rather than French. If an English-speaker reads ‘gif’, the default would be to pronounce it as an actual word, with a hard g. > > Suppose you didn’t know how the word ‘paradigm’ is pronounced. Would you read it as ‘para-dime’? Or would you rely on your English and pronounce it ‘para-dij-um’ or ‘para-digg-um’? Okay, you’re using “Germanic” to mean “English as opposed to French”. That’s what was confusing me. I don’ t think we disagree about anything except terminology. ---
**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, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/44 "2013-05-24T16:01:27Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Okay, you’re using “Germanic” to mean “English as opposed to French”. That’s what was confusing me. I don’ t think we disagree about anything except terminology. I said that reading that particular string of letters as a word, an English-speaker would pronounce it with a hard g. **hogarth** said that English borrowed heavily from French, so it’s not necessarily true that one would assume a hard g. I pointed out that English is a Germanic language, so an English speaker would default to the Germanic hard g instead of the French soft g. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/45 "2013-05-24T16:02:13Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > Like Gift without the ‘t’. > > If I hear Jif I think peanut butter, not files. Ditto. Exactly what I was going to say ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/46 "2013-05-24T16:07:44Z")
I pronounce it the way that guy in the video pronounces it. Always have, never thought there was controversy over it until now ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/47 "2013-05-24T16:39:56Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > 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. Weirdo. Everyone knows that .BMP is pronounced “bimp.” Oh, and definitely a hard G. As is only right and proper, as all thinking people know. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/48 "2013-05-24T17:43:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What I’m saying is that when an English-speaker reads an unfamiliar word, s/he defaults to the English pronunciation rather than French. If an English-speaker reads ‘gif’, the default would be to pronounce it as an actual word, with a hard g. I’m an English-speaker, and I’ve always pronounced it “jif” like the peanut butter. I remember the “Choosy [people] choose .GIF!” joke mentioned by **Prof. Pepperwinkle** going around in the early to mid '90s. I probably heard “Choosy perverts choose .GIF!” (animated porn .GIFs) more often than any other form of the joke, but my friends were nerdy teens and not web designers. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/49 "2013-05-24T18:17:12Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > 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.** Bolding mine. GIF can be a verb? Like, when you create a GIF, you GIF something? So, one might say, “That’s a sweet video. I can’t wait to GIF it.”? I would say, “…create a GIF.” but perhaps I’m old-fashioned or something. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/50 "2013-05-24T18:43:01Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > Like Gift without the ‘t’. > > If I hear Jif I think peanut butter, not files. QFT ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/51 "2013-05-24T18:44:49Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > QFT How do you pronounce that? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/52 "2013-05-24T18:49:09Z")
In my earlier years I called it with a soft G; in my later years I called it with a hard G; and now that I have written code to read and write GIF files, I now call it what it is: _a motherfucker._ Graphic file formats are all _major_ PITAs. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/53 "2013-05-24T18:52:42Z")
I too have never heard GIF used as a verb before. That’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever got out of this thread! When I do have occaision to say the word out loud, I almost always say it with a hard g first, but then say “or jif, if you prefer” 🙂 What can I say, I’m a people pleaser. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/54 "2013-05-24T18:57:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I pointed out that English is a Germanic language, so an English speaker would default to the Germanic hard g instead of the French soft g. I suspect it’s more a case of which set of g words comes to the speaker’s mind first. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/55 "2013-05-24T18:57:24Z")
> [@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. Because there are no common English words in which the g followed by i is hard? The words girl, give, and gift are imaginary? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/56 "2013-05-24T18:58:01Z")
The most recent episode of BBC Radio 4’s Friday Night Comedy podcast just came out, and Mitch Benn commented on the controversy, coming down on the not-Jif side, and proposed a list of things we’ve by extension been pronouncing all along, including saying that JPEG perhaps should be “gay-pej.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/57 "2013-05-24T18:59:51Z")
The correct way. With a hard g. ---
**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, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/58 "2013-05-24T19:20:37Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > How do you pronounce that? 😃 QFT: quooft. Oo as in _book_. ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/59 "2013-05-24T20:05:07Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > including saying that JPEG perhaps should be “gay-pej.” Since JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and acronyms are required by nerdlaw to use the starting sounds of the words they’re made of, it’s clearly pronounced juhff-egg. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/60 "2013-05-24T20:15:12Z")
I pronounce it like I pronounce “geoduck”: correctly. The hard-G sound is good, it makes it sound like that stuff they smoke in Morocco. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=4)