# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/81 "2013-05-27T01:17:25Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > An example of a case where a word pronounced with a soft g (followed by i) is [misspelled by someone](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=692044) who has apparently never seen it in writing. “1.21 Jiggowatts! Great Scott!” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/82 "2013-05-27T11:08:43Z")
On a related note, it took me the longest time to stop mentally referring to certain Russian armored vehicles as “Bitmaps.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/83 "2013-05-27T13:05:02Z")
I spell out PNG. I had never heard anyone refer to them as “Ping” files until very recently, and it sounds ridiculous to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/84 "2013-05-27T13:33:26Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Indeed. Do the same people pronounce the “e” in “laser” like the “e” in “emission”? Given that I don’t say “Ee-mission” but rather “uh-mission”, yes, I pretty much do. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/85 "2013-05-27T13:40:59Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Because there are no common English words in which the g followed by i is hard? The words girl, give, and gift are imaginary? Not sure what you’re asking? Of course there are. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/86 "2013-05-27T13:47:31Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > But I try not to pronounce it at all. Why is anybody still using GIF when PNG (which is “pee-en-jee”, never “ping”) exists? I guess the same reason people try to make databases in Excel. Because IE doesn’t support APNG, and animations are the major reason people still use GIF. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/87 "2013-05-27T14:44:01Z")
I pronounce if jif because gif sounds dumb. I looked it up years ago and was happy to find that’s the correct usage. There are no rules for acronym pronunciation. If there were, there would be a lot that are mispronounced. For example, ASAP would be pronounced “ass-app.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/88 "2013-05-27T14:50:44Z")
I personally have always said “jiff.” I had thought that the hard-g pronunciation was the “correct” one until this thread, but “gif” with a hard-g just never seemed right to me for some reason. Probably because most of my initial exposure to that word was the “jiff” pronunciation. ---
**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 27, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/89 "2013-05-27T17:08:23Z")
I’m really amused at the number of people here and in other online forums railing against the jif pronunciation because it also sounds like a brand of peanut butter. The only possible time where I think a person could be legitimately confused would be if they had been taking photos of different bands of peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/90 "2013-05-27T17:31:08Z")
I say “Throatwarbler Mangrove”. …actually, “gif” as in “gift”. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/91 "2013-05-27T18:06:55Z")
The timing of [this comic](http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/i-m3Cw3dX/0/950x10000/i-m3Cw3dX-950x10000.jpg) makes me wonder if the Penny Arcade guys read SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/92 "2013-05-27T18:24:13Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > The timing of [this comic](http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/i-m3Cw3dX/0/950x10000/i-m3Cw3dX-950x10000.jpg) makes me wonder if the Penny Arcade guys read SDMB. That you ask the question makes me wonder if you read _anything else_ on the internet (by which I mean this has been covered by _lots_ of sites in the geekosphere, and even made [mainstream](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22620473) news) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/93 "2013-05-27T18:45:35Z")
Hard “G” other wise it would be too confusing to have both .gif and .jif image files pronounced the same way ---
**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 27, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/94 "2013-05-27T19:19:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The only possible time where I think a person could be legitimately confused would be if they had been taking photos of different bands of peanut butter. Let’s just hope that these confused people never hear about SWAT or NORML or any of a zillion other acronyms that sound like existing words. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/95 "2013-05-27T19:25:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That you ask the question makes me wonder if you read _anything else_ on the internet (by which I mean this has been covered by _lots_ of sites in the geekosphere, and even made [mainstream](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22620473) news) Yeah, I realized my error after the edit timer had ran out. English isn’t my first language though, so news about how you pronounce something don’t really interest me at all and I guess I do not venture into that geekosphere either. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/96 "2013-05-27T22:40:20Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m really amused at the number of people here and in other online forums railing against the jif pronunciation because it also sounds like a brand of peanut butter. The only possible time where I think a person could be legitimately confused would be if they had been taking photos of different bands of peanut butter. And they would be _animated_ pictures of peanut butter I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/97 "2013-05-29T21:05:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I spell out PNG. I had never heard anyone refer to them as “Ping” files until very recently, and it sounds ridiculous to my ears. What, really? They’re totally ping files. Everyone knows this. Weirdo. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/98 "2013-05-30T00:53:14Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Everyone knows this. Clearly this is an exaggeration, because I didn’t. But I also don’t know if I had ever heard anybody say it out loud. And if I was the first person to say it out loud amongst a group of my peers, they’d probably copy my pronunciation ever after. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/99 "2013-05-30T03:24:22Z")
Hard G. It’s how almost everyone I know pronounces it, myself and co-workers included for 20 years. “Jif” just sounds wrong now, despite the creator’s wishes. Is everyone going to start pronouncing Han Solo like Lucas says it, with a short a vowel sound? _Bleck!_ Then again, I do wish the science field would adopt gigawatts with a soft “G”. Doc Brown gave it a bit more pizazz on that one. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/100 "2013-05-30T03:54:01Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I pronounce it like I pronounce “geoduck”: correctly. GUI-duck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=6)