# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**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 30, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/101 "2013-05-30T16:47:04Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Exactly this. When you see the word, it looks like it’s pronounced with an unambiguous hard G. It’s how everybody around me pronounced it when I first learned of the term (in the mid 90s), and how most of the world pronounces it. It may be unambiguous to you, but to me my first instinct was to pronounce it “jiff” analogizing with words like “gin” and “Gigi” and “giraffe” for some reason. To me, “gif” with a hard “g” should be “giff.” Not exactly sure why, that’s just how my brain reads it. > [@](#): > > I also pronounce Linux as “linnix” for the same reason; it’s how everybody around me pronounced it\*. > \*Including its inventor, even though his name is (and pronounced as) Linus I originally pronounced it with a long-“i”, but everyone says “linnix,” so that’s the pronunciation I use now. With giff/jiff, I hear both fairly interchangeably. Like I said, I though the hard-g version was the correct one until this thread, even though I pronounce it was a “j.” ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/102 "2013-05-30T18:38:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > 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. Seize the day, then! You could be a trendsetter! Pings for everyone! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/103 "2013-05-31T22:48:31Z")
Hard G, because soft G would lead to confusion when pronouncing .JIF, another type of graphics file (granted those don’t come up very much anymore) ---
**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:** [June 1, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/104 "2013-06-01T02:41:21Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Hard G, because soft G would lead to confusion when pronouncing .JIF, another type of graphics file (granted those don’t come up very much anymore) No, see, then you’d pronounce “.JIF” with a hard G. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/105 "2013-06-01T03:49:27Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Seize the day, then! You could be a trendsetter! Pings for everyone! Pings for industry! Pings for the dead! ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/106 "2013-06-01T21:37:50Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t know how “hard” and “soft” came to be used the way they are, but if you pronouncing a j by clicking your teeth together then you’re doing it wrong. What, what? How can you make a “j” sound without your teeth touching??? Jiffy, Jim, Jack, Jerry, Jason, Julie, Jackass, Jury, Gif, George, Gin, Gemini…if your teeth don’t touch when you pronounce those words, you’re a mutant. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/107 "2013-06-01T22:06:19Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > What, what? How can you make a “j” sound without your teeth touching??? > > Jiffy, Jim, Jack, Jerry, Jason, Julie, Jackass, Jury, Gif, George, Gin, Gemini…if your teeth don’t touch when you pronounce those words, you’re a mutant. Unless you’re doing a bad Thurston Howell III imitation, there are no sounds in the English language that even allow, let alone require the teeth to touch. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/108 "2013-06-01T22:21:19Z")
“Jif.” Like everyone I know does. I didn’t know anybody pronounced it with a hard G until I read this thread. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/109 "2013-06-02T02:08:51Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > What, what? How can you make a “j” sound without your teeth touching??? My name begins with J and I have said it properly tens of thousands of times without my teeth touching. I suppose it is possible to touch the teeth but that would be an overpronunciation. But in no case would the teeth ever be “clicking.” > [@Doug\_K](#): > > Unless you’re doing a bad Thurston Howell III imitation, there are no sounds in the English language that even allow, let alone require the teeth to touch. I think that the s sound could be pronounced with the front teeth touching, though with exaggerated sibilance. In fact if they are too far apart it is a lisp. Otherwise I agree completely. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/110 "2013-06-02T04:25:37Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > What, what? How can you make a “j” sound without your teeth touching??? > > Jiffy, Jim, Jack, Jerry, Jason, Julie, Jackass, Jury, Gif, George, Gin, Gemini…if your teeth don’t touch when you pronounce those words, you’re a mutant. Yeah, my teeth don’t touch on those words. I suppose they come close, but they don’t touch, and they definitely do not click. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211/111 "2013-06-02T13:27:30Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > What, what? How can you make a “j” sound without your teeth touching??? > > Jiffy, Jim, Jack, Jerry, Jason, Julie, Jackass, Jury, Gif, George, Gin, Gemini…if your teeth don’t touch when you pronounce those words, you’re a mutant. My teeth do not touch on those or any other J sound. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/659211.md?page=5)