What would you call this?
If you’re technologically knowledgeable, you’ll know that these particular files
are called .gif files, but how do you pronounce that as a word?
Well, it’s simple!
It’s pronounced… [explosion]
This war between GIF and JIF has been raging on since the .gif file was first introduced.
It’s all because of that damn letter G!
But what if I told you that both pronunciations can be right?
Now, if you’re like all these people, you’re probably not going to like what I’m going
to talk about, as I’m again going to completely sidestep the original question and talk about
something you probably didn’t even want me to talk about: dialects.
Though the inventors of the GIF say it’s pronounced “JIF”, the debate still rages
on.
Proponents of GIF will argue that the G stands for “graphics”, and there’s also the
word gift, which is close enough.
I personally just don’t like G’s being pronounced like J’s (you already have a
letter, stop stealing letters, voiced postalveolar affricate!)
However, proponents of JIF point out acronyms like the Central American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA) and how it’s pronounced “kafta”, despite it not being “kentral”; or something
like how NATO doesn’t stand for North “eight-lantic” Treaty Organization.
Now, why is there such a dispute?
Well, it’s actually quite simple, just look at this phrase.
How do you pronounce it?
If you’re like me, you probably pronounced it “the rowt to the care-a-mel shop”,
while everyone else (also probably including you) would probably have pronounced it “the
root to the car-mel shop”... in Harvard Yard.
The point I’m trying to make here is that we differ on the pronunciations of dozens
of different words, and we rarely dispute them, unless they’re somewhat more obscure
pronunciations, like the infamous “aboot”.
While many outside Canada make fun of people who actually do say “aboot” or “aboat”,
it obviously doesn’t extend to every word in the language.
Of course, GIF is a bit different, as the dispute here would have arisen due to the
fact that it’s a computer term, and so therefore (insert cliché joke about computer nerds
not having any friends) there was never a true verbal prompt on how to pronounce it.
So, what am I saying?
Am I saying that the GIF/JIF dispute is just one more way we choose to divide ourselves
into little, conflicting tribes?
Actually, yes, I kind of am saying that.
If there’s anything we’re good at, it’s making small ideological distinctions, whether
it be to align ourselves with like-minded people, or to divide ourselves from those
who don’t quite think like us.
Now, I’m actually more neutral on the argument, but proponents of JIF often spell it with
a J for demonstration purposes, and if you have to spell it wrong to know how to pronounce
it, you’re pronouncing it wrong, just saying.
Fight me, English.
That being said, there are more ways to pronounce it if you want to stay more neutral, like
G-I-F.
GIF actually is of course an acronym, it stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and while
we often like to pronounce acronyms as words, to save time and energy, we don’t say IRS,
USA, NSA, ESA, BBC, PDX, YMCA or DFTBA as words.
Now, GIF can be pronounced GIF, JIF, or G-I-F, and they’re all completely, 100%, absolutely,
totally correct.
None of them are wrong in any way.
Many people who create things and name them, however, often have people pronounce things
differently from how they originally intended.
I mean, it’s not an infrequent occurrence that someone pronounces this channel’s name
like “cannabis” despite how much I emphasize that it rhymes with Anubis (which is why the
A is capitalized).
Of course, if you really want to piss people off, why not pick your own wacky pronunciation?
Something like “zhaif”, or “gheef”, or “g-jaif”, or really whatever you want,
this is the internet, and this is English.
Really, the important thing to understanding the rules of English spelling and pronunciation:
their our know rules.
So, how do you pronounce GIF?
Well, I honestly still don’t know, but what I do know is that this video was part of yet
another WeCreateEdu group collaboration between a bunch of really cool educational channels,
which you should check out.
Since it’s December, we decided to call it the GIF Exchange, so that’s why I just
made a video about GIFs.
Thanks to Sheryl from The Roving Naturalist for sending me that parrot GIF I used in the
intro, now be sure to go to ARTexplains to see which GIF I sent him to use in his video.
See you on Sunday.