# Who wants some Gif peanut butter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527 "2020-02-26T02:11:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/41 "2020-02-27T09:50:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The p in jpeg stands for photographic. So why aren’t people arguing that it should be pronounced jay-feg? Because the whole idea that acronyms are pronounced based on how their words are pronounced is dumb. And I say that even though I have and will always use a hard G. My reasoning has to do with how neologisms and acronyms are usually pronounced (i.e. with the base pronunciation of the letter unless it spells an actual word or near-word), and that there is actually a lesser known JIF file format (an extension of the JPEG format that allows other image types). I see no reason not to use the pronunciation that is less ambiguous. It’s not like people don’t trouble understanding me. It’s also how I said it when I first saw the word, and I don’t really see any pressing need to change it. The only argument I’ve ever heard that I “should” say “jiff” is an appeal to the creator, but I’ve never believed the coiner of a word dictates how it is pronounced–it always evolves with the people. I agree that there’s no reason to care either way. No, not even for the pun–I actually tend to prefer puns where the pronunciation is slightly different. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/42 "2020-02-27T12:50:15Z")
“Laser” is pronounced with a “z” when the “s” stands for “stimulated”. And how about “USA”, do you pronounce the last letter as a long “a” or an “uh”/schwa? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/43 "2020-02-27T13:04:34Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “Laser” is pronounced with a “z” when the “s” stands for “stimulated”. > > And how about “USA”, do you pronounce the last letter as a long “a” or an “uh”/schwa? Agreed, but those two examples are technically considered different things: Acronyms are pronounced as words: SCUBA, LASER, GIF, etc… Initialisms are pronounced letter by letter: USA, FBI, CIA, etc… Dictionaries are starting to include initialisms as part of the definition of acronyms, but right at this moment it is still more correct to consider them different things. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/44 "2020-02-27T13:05:30Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How would Pete Buttigieg say it? Just like[Farles Wickens](http://www.montypython.net/scripts/bookshop.php)— with four M’s and a silent Q. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/45 "2020-02-27T19:55:50Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > I think it looks more like “genuflect” with an “i” instead of a “enu” and then a “lect” tacked on at the end. That should clear things up. No, no, you’re spelling it sideways. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/46 "2020-02-28T21:22:55Z")
Came across this tidbit from a [page](https://chrx.org/#compatibility) for chrx (a firmware update thing): > [@](#): > > **chrx** is pronounced “marshmallow”. Right. Just because you invented something doesn’t mean you get to come up with a out-there pronunciation. For me, soft-g gif falls into the same category. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/47 "2020-02-28T23:01:28Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Came across this tidbit from a [page](https://chrx.org/#compatibility) for chrx (a firmware update thing): > > Right. Just because you invented something doesn’t mean you get to come up with a out-there pronunciation. For me, soft-g gif falls into the same category. How the heck is the soft-g pronunciation “out there”? It’s a perfectly natural way to pronounce it based on how you analyze the word. Like I said, when I first came across it, “jiff” seemed the obvious pronunciation to me (and apparently to about a third of other Americans, according to the surveys I linked to above. I am a little surprised that it is that high. I would have guessed more like 20%). Others, clearly, think “ghiff” is the more natural one, which is why I tend to use it now. The “marshmallow” for “chrx” pronunciation is nowhere near an apt analogy to this. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/48 "2020-02-29T01:40:55Z")
As the old joke goes: I’ll say it with a hard G, and if the Good Lord himself comes down and corrects me, I’ll say “Back off, Jod!” On the topic of inventors deciding the pronunciation, in high school we invented the word **Psnornge** (to rhyme with orange). We proclaimed that there are 12 ways to spell it… all of them wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/49 "2020-03-02T21:07:00Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > As long as you don’t pronounce PNGs as Ping. > > … > > …please? Wait…how is PNG \*supposed \*to be pronounced? :eek: ---
**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:** [March 2, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/50 "2020-03-02T22:36:34Z")
Stupid server errors. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/51 "2020-03-02T22:35:03Z")
I spell it out. P N G. Like Papua New Guinea is. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/52 "2020-03-02T22:50:19Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Wait…how is PNG \*supposed \*to be pronounced? :eek: Yeah, I’ve always heard it as “ping.” I guess maybe some people say “PNG,” but typically, around my peers, it’s “ping.” ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/53 "2020-03-03T13:44:08Z")
Soft G sounds better. Also reminds me of someone incorrectly asserting that BIOS is pronounced with a long O instead of soft O. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/54 "2020-03-03T19:56:13Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Wait…how is PNG \*supposed \*to be pronounced? :eek: Like the first part of pungent. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/55 "2020-03-03T20:25:31Z")
> [@NetTrekker](#): > > Soft G sounds better. Also reminds me of someone incorrectly asserting that BIOS is pronounced with a long O instead of soft O. What is a soft o? Like a short o like in”con”? I don’t think I’ve ever heard BIOS pronunounced as anything but “bio” with an “s” at the end of it. Like the plural of “bio(graphy)” but with an unvoiced “s” sound instead of a voiced “z” sound like you’d get in “bios.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/56 "2020-03-03T22:03:25Z")
How does the ghost in the machine boot up? With a BIOOOOOOS! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/57 "2020-03-03T22:36:09Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > And the inventor of lawn tennis wanted to call it “sphairistikè”. > > Both of which proves that the inventor of a thing has absolutely no business naming it. Similarly, I refuse to pronounce “TeX” ([TeX - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX)) as anything other than an exact homophone of “Tex.” Fortunately, I have little need to use the word. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/58 "2020-03-04T13:30:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Similarly, I refuse to pronounce “TeX” ([TeX - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX)) as anything other than an exact homophone of “Tex.” Fortunately, I have little need to use the word. And it’s supposed to be formatted as T[sub]E[/sub]X. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/59 "2020-03-04T14:56:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And it’s supposed to be formatted as T[sub]E[/sub]X. 😉 Ugh. Someone deserves to be murdered over this. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527/60 "2020-03-04T18:39:02Z")
I’ve always heard it pronounced “Jiff.” Never heard it the other way up until a year or two ago and it has only been on this board. Just one data point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-some-gif-peanut-butter/848527.md?page=2)