How Do You Pronounce GIF?

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How do you pronounce the name of file extensions? The Atlantic says GIF is pronounced like "Jif" the peanut butter. What about JPEG? Or other stuff like SATA and so on? How do you guys pronounce file extensions?

In the case of GIF, the pronunciation depends on the term's creators, their intentions. "The people who formulated this new word, they decide," Dr. Labov explained. "People who only read it, they can only guess." So what did the creators intend? All sources point to soft-g peanut butter Jif.
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GIF=Graphics Interchange Format

Why would I replace the G with a J as opposed to taking on the pronunciation of the word the G stands for? If I heard someone pronounce it "Jiff" I would think they were retarded.
 
Before the page loaded, I thought JIF... like the peanut butter! :D

Some people I have heard say "gif" which is probably the right way but it sounds lame. JIF just sounds better and slides off the tongue better than GIF (gift without the T)
 
I've always said GIF (like gift without the T). I say J PEG like it is two separate words and the whole SATA pronunciation thing pisses me off so much I say "Serial ATA."

I actually had some retail store employee try to correct me and say "do you mean "SATA" (pronounced say-ta) and I said "No, I mean Serial ATA" you do-shhh (spelled douche) .
 
gif = "Jif"
JPEG = "Jay-Peg"
SATA = "Say-Ta"
ASUS = "A-Suss" (I know it's supposed to be "A-Seuss" but, you know, I've been saying it one way too long to change)
That's how I do it.
 
Kalabalana said:
gif = "Jif"
JPEG = "Jay-Peg"
SATA = "Say-Ta"
ASUS = "A-Suss" (I know it's supposed to be "A-Seuss" but, you know, I've been saying it one way too long to change)
That's how I do it.
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this.
 
Kalabalana said:
gif = "Jif"
JPEG = "Jay-Peg"
SATA = "Say-Ta"
ASUS = "A-Suss" (I know it's supposed to be "A-Seuss" but, you know, I've been saying it one way too long to change)
That's how I do it.
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+1, except for GIF. I say "gift" minus the T.
 
Oldie said:
GIF=Graphics Interchange Format

Why would I replace the G with a J as opposed to taking on the pronunciation of the word the G stands for? If I heard someone pronounce it "Jiff" I would think they were retarded.
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Precisely
 
GIF: with a g not a j
SATA: I either say it like saaata or I say the letters
JPEG: jay peg
 
Kalabalana said:
gif = "Jif"
JPEG = "Jay-Peg"
SATA = "Say-Ta"
ASUS = "A-Suss" (I know it's supposed to be "A-Seuss" but, you know, I've been saying it one way too long to change)
That's how I do it.
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I agree with this except for SATA. I just don't like saying "Say-Ta", so I just pronounce the letters.
 
gif = "Gif"
JPEG = "jay-peg"
SATA = "say-ta"
Chassis = "chas-ee"
PDF = "pee-dee-f"
EXE = "ee-x-ee"

Other every format you pronounce them just like they appear... why would you say JIF? It doesn't have a J
 
So how many jigabytes of hard drive space do you guys have?
 
Is there a single word in the english language that begins with a soft g? Oh wait, giraffe...damnit, there goes my sweeping denunciation of the Jif pronouncers. ;)

(I'm still saying it hard G though!)
 
GIF = GIF (as gift, without t, hard g)
JPEG=Jay-Peg
SATA = Sah-Ta.

Others:
.DOC = DOC (as in doctor)
.PNG = P - N - G
.TIFF = T-if (as in tick, but with an f)
IDE = I - D - E
Asus = A-Sess (again, I know A-Seuss is proper)
Nikon = Nai-con (Neekon though is how it's supposedly pronounced in Japanese)
 
I didn't know that 'gif' was one of the pronunciations that varies widely. I also don't find myself using it much at all in conversation.
 
Bleh... GIF = JIF as far as I'm concerned, ain't changing now. ;)

JPEG is pretty obvious to most: Jay-Peg.

SATA is interesting, and for the longest time I actually did sound out "Serial ATA" but, now it's just Say-Tuh or more accurately Say-Duh since most of us don't articulate the hard "T" in there, it comes out more like a "D".

SCSI = Scuzzy, and so on...

Next there'll be a thread about OSX (Oh-Ess-Ecks) vs OS X (Oh-Ess Ten). Apple didn't name any other versions of their flagship OS with a Roman numeral, and they were banking on "The X-Factor" with version 10 by realizing "Hey, anything with an X in the name implies cool, like 'The X-Games', X-Treme Sports, that sorta thing... let's call it OS X and really confuse 'em..."

And so I almost refuse to call it Oh-Ess Ten... they put an X in there so I call it Oh-Ess-Ecks... ;)
 
TwistedAegis said:
Is there a single word in the english language that begins with a soft g? Oh wait, giraffe...damnit, there goes my sweeping denunciation of the Jif pronouncers. ;)

(I'm still saying it hard G though!)
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Geriatric, giraffe, gigolo, gentile, germ, gentle.. those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.
 
GIF = GIF (G as in Graphics)
JPG = Jay-peg
SATA = Say-duh
ASUS = A-Seuss
EIZO = Ay-Zo
Car = Cah
Park = Pahk
 
Oldie said:
So how many jigabytes of hard drive space do you guys have?
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1.21 of course.

----

GIF = Hard G
SATA = used to be Serial ATA, now it's "sayta" but never "S A T A", it depends on who you are speaking to.
JPEG = Tricky, I always say "jay-peg" but normally I go the extra mile to help users, "jay-peg and J P G files are the same, use that format for photographs.

I have known for a long time that GIF is supposed to start with a "J" sound. But to be correct just for the sake of being be correct is pretty much the definition of being a dork. Many not-so-hard-core computer users will understand you better if you use the mispronounced version as almost nobody naturally guesses "J". Secondly, almost every single conversation you have that may contain "GIF" will almost always also contain "JPEG", its just the nature of talking shop so to speak. So it makes sense to do anything you can draw a clear distinctions between the two.
 
GIF = gift without the "t"
JPEG = jay-peg
SATA = say-ta
IDE = eye-dee-ee
CRT = cee-arr-tee
CPU = cee-pee-you
USB = you-ess-bee
MPEG = em-peg

etc
 
Great Scott! 1.21 jigawatts!

What the hell is a jigawatt?

Guessing this is how GIF became JIF ;-)
 
Steve said:
I've always said GIF (like gift without the T). I say J PEG like it is two separate words and the whole SATA pronunciation thing pisses me off so much I say "Serial ATA."

I actually had some retail store employee try to correct me and say "do you mean "SATA" (pronounced say-ta) and I said "No, I mean Serial ATA" you do-shhh (spelled douche) .
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I'm the same way! I always say SATA= "serial ATA" it bugs the hell out of me when people say it the other way!!!

gif I have always heard being called gift without the T, aswell as jpeg two words.
 
Why are people going on to pronounce the simplest words? Like seriously, you say Jay-peg? I say jeh-poog... :confused:
 
Oldie said:
So how many jigabytes of hard drive space do you guys have?
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This... I refuse to call in "jif" until people correctly pronounce "jiggabytes" (there's a reason Christopher Lloyd said "One point twenty one jiggawatts in Back To The Future"), since the Gig-a-byte won't ever change, the GIF will not change in my mind.

Besides, it's an acronym, I don't think linguistic rules for how to pronounce something really apply.

Oh SATA = (Sa-Tah) ... or S A T A
 
cyr0n_k0r said:
gif = "Gif"
JPEG = "jay-peg"
SATA = "say-ta"
Chassis = "chas-ee"
PDF = "pee-dee-f"
EXE = "ee-x-ee"

Other every format you pronounce them just like they appear... why would you say JIF? It doesn't have a J
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this minus say-ta. I say sat-ta but I usually just say serial ATA to avoid confusion. The first time I heard a professor say "jif" i didn't understand what he was talking about and thought he was retarded. Then when I heard other classmates saying jiff I was like damn, I've been the one mispronouncing it all these years. But yeah,
why would you say JIF? It doesn't have a J.
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Finally vindication for saying .gif the correct way all these years. I no longer have to bow my head in shame for saying "jiff."
 
If you count 'correct' as what the creators of something wanted it pronounced, then GIF is said "jif". From Wikipedia:
The creators of the format pronounced GIF with a soft "G", /ˈdʒɪf/, as in "gin". An alternative pronunciation uses a hard "G", /ˈɡɪf/, as in "graphics", reflecting the expanded acronym. Both pronunciations are given as correct by the Oxford English Dictionary[2] and the American Heritage Dictionary.[3]
According to Steve Wilhite, the creator of the GIF format, the original pronunciation deliberately echoes the American peanut butter brand, Jif, and the employees of CompuServe would often say "Choosy developers choose GIF", spoofing this brand's television commercials.[4] This pronunciation was also identified by CompuServe in their documentation of a graphics display program called CompuShow.[4]
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However, common sense and common use of the English language would say that the G is hard when it begins a word as it almost always goes (I'm blind-eyeing "gin", et al). So, "gift" without the T.

Personally, I go with the latter because it makes far more sense to me, but as much as it grinds my gears when I hear someone say "jiff", I don't say anything because annoyingly, they're actually saying it how the creators did.

Also,
JPEG = Jay-Peg (and honestly I've never heard anyone say it any other way, and I'm quite sure it'd be wrong. Acceptable would be J-P-E-G)
SATA = Satta (not say-ta)
Linux = "Linnucks", Americanized version of "Leenucks" as Linus himself said it (and later stated he'd rather not be an authority on how to pronounce it). Hearing "LIE-nucks" is not correct and makes me twitch.
 
The proper way to pronounce .GIF is "who-the-eff-cares." Thank you. :p
 
Until today I had literally never heard it pronounced any way except with a hard G. Honestly pronouncing it jiff sounds retarded. Even if it was intended, as mentioned there are hardly any soft G's in the english language.
 
Steve said:
How do you pronounce the name of file extensions? The Atlantic says GIF is pronounced like "Jif" the peanut butter. What about JPEG? Or other stuff like SATA and so on? How do you guys pronounce file extensions?
Click to expand...

GIF = Gift

Of all the times working with *.gif graphics, I've only heard it pronounced "JIF" twice, both times from a bills-payable clerk. All other times its been pronounced "GIF" as in "GIFt". Web designers, graphic artists, even the printers pronounce it "GIF" with a hard "G" sound.

But if you pronounce it JIF or GIF...either way, you'll get your meaning across within the context of the sentence, so no big deal either way.
 
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