What Does GIF Stand For? And Let’s Finally Settle This—How Is It Actually Pronounced?
There is a big debate on the proper pronunciation.
If you love to share things on social media, you are probably very aware of GIFs and have either received or shared one (or a thousand!) with others. Most likely, you know that the images are called GIFs, but you might not know exactly what the name means. Is a GIF a word or an acronym? If it is an acronym, what does GIF stand for? And, once and for all, how in the world is it really pronounced?
When you want to ask someone if they liked the GIF that you sent, how do you say it out loud? Most of us have heard it spoken a couple of different ways. We want to appear in the know and not fumble up the word/acronym when we say it!
We'll take a look at what a GIF actually is and what it stands for. That's the easiest part. Then, we'll make an attempt to figure out if there is a definite right and wrong way to pronounce the popular term.
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What Is a GIF?
If you've ever looked at an image file closely, you will notice that there are several different extensions or formats for image files. You may be familiar with seeing the common JPEG or PNG as raster image extensions for downloads. One, less familiar, raster image extension is GIF.
A GIF is similar to a JPEG or PNG image format in that it can be used to create a still image. However, a GIF format is extra special because it can also be used to create animated images.
This is different than a video clip. Instead, a GIF is a series of still images that make movement when they are quickly flipped through. They were used frequently when the internet first came out and they are still popular today.
People use GIFs all the time when sharing things on social media. It could be thought of as an emoji that moves—we love to use them to give a visual expression of a situation or emotion.
What Does GIF Stand For?
GIF is short for Graphics Interchange Format, which is explained as a "digital file format devised in 1987 by the Internet service provider CompuServe as a means of reducing the size of images and short animations."
How GIF Is Pronounced
There are two ways that you might hear people pronounce GIF. One way is with a hard g, like gorilla. It will sound like the word gift without the g. The other way is with a soft g which is more of a j sound. In fact, some people pronounce it exactly like the Jif peanut butter. But which way is the correct way to pronounce it?
What Does the GIF Creator Say?
It would be assumed that whoever created the GIF format would have the most say on how it is pronounced. Well, Stephen Wilhite created the GIF in 1987, and according to him, GIF is pronounced like "Jif." He even made it clear that those who pronounce it with a hard g are wrong.
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Why Do Some Want GIF To Be Pronounced With A Hard G?
Even though the creator of the GIF format is firm on how the extension is to be pronounced, other people like web developers or graphic designers feel a hard g is more appropriate. Their logic behind this thought is that the g stands for graphics and graphics is a hard g.
Another argument is simply that when most people see the acronym, they want to say it with a hard g because it makes the most sense to them.
Rules of the Pronunciation of G
At this point, it would be good to look back at what we learned way back when about grammar. There are some rules of pronunciation in our somewhat confusing English language. It's why we have words like giraffe and goat. Both start with a g but one is hard and the other soft. Here is how you can tell which one to use.
If the g is followed by e, i or y, it gets pronounced with a soft g.
If the g is followed by any other letter besides e, i or y, it gets pronounced with a hard g.
Seems pretty simple and straightforward. However, here is where it gets messy. How do we explain the words gift or give? They both start with a g that is followed by an i. Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule. It's no wonder there is such a debate going on! And, besides that, is an acronym treated like a word in the rules of pronunciation? It doesn't seem like it would have to.
So How Does The Debate Get Settled?
While Wilhite made it clear that the intended pronunciation is "Jif," it's a situation where everyone wins, actually. After all, the Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations.
Next Up: 30 of the Most Commonly Misspelled Words—Get Ready To Quiz Yourself or Test Your Friends
