{{Short description|Linguistic dispute}} {{Italic title|string=GIF}} {{Featured article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} [[File:Stephen Webby slide at the 2013 Webby Awards.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Steve Wilhite's slide at the 2013 Webby Awards|alt=A slide with a black background. The text written in white and all caps is: "It's pronounced 'JIF' not 'GIF'".]]
The pronunciation of ''GIF''<!--The expansion of the acronym is linked instead, to obviate any semantic unclarity caused by linking a term that is italicized due to the use–mention distinction.-->, an acronym for the Graphics Interchange Format, has been disputed since the 1990s. Popularly rendered in English as a one-syllable word, the acronym is most commonly pronounced {{respell|GHIF}} {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f|audio=Pronunciation of gif.ogg}} (with a hard ''g'' as in ''gig'') or {{respell|JIF}} {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f|audio=Pronunciation of jif.ogg}} (with a soft ''g'' as in ''gin''), differing in the phoneme represented by the letter ''G''. Many public figures and institutions have taken sides in the debate; Steve Wilhite, the computer scientist who created the Graphics Interchange Format, gave a speech at the 2013 Webby Awards arguing for the soft-''g'' pronunciation. Others have pointed to the term's origin from abbreviation of the hard-''g'' word ''graphics'' to argue for the other pronunciation. Some speakers pronounce ''GIF'' as an initialism rather than an acronym, producing {{IPAc-en|dʒ|iː|_|aɪ|_|ɛ|f|audio=Pronunciation of GIF.ogg}}.<!-- Further detailed with citations in the Arguments section -->
The controversy stems partly from the fact that the pronunciation of an initial ''g'' is not standardized; the hard ''g'' prevails in words such as ''gift'', while the soft ''g'' is used in others such as ''ginger''. Linguistic analyses show no clear advantage for either phoneme based on the pronunciation frequencies of similar English words, and English dictionaries generally accept both main alternatives as valid. The pronunciation of the acronym can also vary in other languages.
==Background== The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is an image file format developed in 1987 by Steve Wilhite at the American online service provider CompuServe. GIFs are popularly used to display short, looped<ref>{{Cite news |last=Biersdorfer |first=J. D. |date=January 12, 2022 |title=How to make your own animated GIFs |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/technology/personaltech/how-to-make-gifs.html |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=February 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228204941/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/technology/personaltech/how-to-make-gifs.html |url-status=live }}</ref> animations.<ref name="O'Leary 2013">{{Cite news|last=O'Leary|first=Amy|date=May 23, 2013|title=Battle over ''GIF'' pronunciation erupts|work=The New York Times|url=https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/battle-over-gif-pronunciation-erupts/|url-access=subscription|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129002545/https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/battle-over-gif-pronunciation-erupts/|url-status=live}}</ref> The acronym ''GIF'', commonly pronounced as a monosyllable, has a disputed pronunciation. Some individuals pronounce the word with a hard ''g'', as in {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f|audio=Pronunciation of gif.ogg}}, whereas others pronounce it with a soft ''g'', as in {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f|audio=Pronunciation of jif.ogg}}.<ref name="Greenfield 2011" /> A minority prefer to pronounce it as an initialism, speaking the name of each letter, creating the pronunciation {{IPAc-en|dʒ|iː|_|aɪ|_|ɛ|f|audio=Pronunciation of GIF.ogg}}.<ref name="The Economist 2017" />
Wilhite and the team who developed the file format included in the technical specifications that the acronym was to be pronounced with a soft ''g''. In the specifications, the team wrote that "choosy programmers choose ... 'jif{{'"}}, in homage to the peanut butter company Jif's advertising slogan of "choosy moms choose Jif".<ref name="Greenfield 2011">{{Cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Rebecca|date=February 1, 2011|title=Tech etymology: animated GIF|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/tech-etymology-animated-gif/70504/|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129035402/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/tech-etymology-animated-gif/70504/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ABC News, the debate stretches as far back as 1994, with an author of an encyclopedia of image formats stating that "most people" seem to prefer the hard ''g'' pronunciation over his preferred soft ''g''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Webb|first=Tiger|date=August 9, 2018|title=Is it pronounced ''GIF'' or ''JIF''{{-?}} And why do we care?|publisher=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-10/is-it-pronounced-gif-or-jif/10102374|access-date=December 28, 2021|archive-date=December 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229020824/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-10/is-it-pronounced-gif-or-jif/10102374|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Other languages=== In French, the acronym tends to be pronounced {{IPA|fr|ʒif||LL-Q150 (fra)-LoquaxFR-GIF.wav}},<ref>{{cite news|last=Mercier|first=Jacques|date=June 12, 2016|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/expressions-francaises/2016/12/06/37003-20161206ARTFIG00038-faut-il-dire-gif-ou-jif.php|title=Faut-il dire «guif» ou «jif» ?|work=Le Figaro|language=fr|access-date=June 15, 2022}}</ref> with the voiced postalveolar fricative, {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, as in the ''j'' in the French {{lang|fr|joie}} or the ''s'' in the English ''measure'' or ''vision'', even though {{IPAblink|dʒ}}, which does not occur in native vocabulary, tends to be retained in English loanwords (such as {{lang|fr|jeans}}).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagyal|first1=Zsuzsanna|last2=Kibbee|first2=Douglas|last3=Jenkins|first3=Fred|year=2006|title=French: A Linguistic Introduction|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=44|isbn=978-0-521-82144-5}}</ref> In Norwegian, ''GIF'' is pronounced with a hard ''g'', {{IPA|[ɡ]}},<ref name="Det Norske Akademis ordbok">{{cite dictionary |title=gif |encyclopedia=Det Norske Akademis ordbok |publisher=Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature |url=https://naob.no/ordbok/gif |access-date=August 27, 2023 |language=Norwegian}}</ref> unlike native words, for which the sequence {{angbr|gi}} would be pronounced with a voiced palatal approximant, {{IPA|[j]}}, like the ''y'' in English ''yes''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kristoffersen |first=Gjert |title=The Phonology of the World's Languages: The Phonology of Norwegian |date=December 15, 2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199229321 |page=112 |chapter=Word phonology |author-link=Gjert Kristoffersen}}</ref> In German, there is no soft ''g'', so the pronunciation is {{IPA|de|ɡɪf||De-Gif.ogg}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=GIF |url=https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/GIF |website=Duden |publisher=Bibliographisches Institut GmbH |access-date=December 10, 2025 |language=German}}</ref>
== Analysis ==
=== Cause === In English, the linguistic controversy stems partly from the fact that there is no standard for how the letter sequence ''gi'' is to be pronounced; the hard ''g'' prevails in words such as ''gift'', while the soft ''g'' is used in others, such as ''ginger'', ''giraffe'' and ''gist''. In Old English, ''g'' could represent: 1) the voiced palatal approximant /j/ (as in Modern English ⟨yes⟩), which had the allophone [d͡ʒ]—the voiced postalveolar affricate (as in Modern English ⟨jab⟩), and 2) the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ (not present in Modern English), which had the allophone [ɡ]—the voiced velar plosive (as in Modern English ⟨gap⟩). Most [j]-retaining words of Old English origin are spelt now with ⟨y⟩ (such as ⟨yes⟩ and ⟨yet⟩). Modern grammars of Old English distinguish between: 1) the palatal value [j] and the postalveolar value [d͡ʒ] by writing ⟨ġ⟩ and 2) the velar values [ɣ] and [ɡ] by writing ⟨g⟩.<ref>A. Campbell, ''Old English Grammar'' (Oxford: Clarendon, 1959), §§ 50.</ref><ref name="Greenfield 2011" />
An analysis of 269 words by linguist Michael Dow found near-tied results on whether a hard or soft ''g'' was more appropriate based on other English words; the results varied somewhat depending on what parameters were used.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dow |first=Michael |date=August 31, 2020 |title=It's ''gif'' and ''gif''{{px2}}: The English lexicon goes both ways |url=https://mcdowlinguist.github.io/fr/2020/08/31/gif-pronunciation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004093929/https://mcdowlinguist.github.io/fr/2020/08/31/gif-pronunciation.html |archive-date=October 4, 2020 |access-date=December 28, 2021 |website=mcdowlinguist.github.io}}</ref> Of the 105 words that contained ''gi'' somewhere in the word, 68 used the soft ''g'' while only 37 employed its counterpart. However, the hard ''g'' words were found to be significantly more common in everyday English; comparatively obscure words like ''flibbertigibbet'' and ''tergiversate'', both pronounced with a soft ''g'', were included in the list of 68 soft ''gi'' words. When the prevalence of each word was taken into account, it was found that the hard and soft ''g'' appeared in nearly equal frequencies in ''gi'' words. No clear favorite was found by only using the words that begin with ''gi'', nor by only using words with one syllable such as ''gift'' and ''gin''.
In her coverage of Dow's piece, Canadian linguist Gretchen McCulloch theorizes that since the hard and soft ''g'' in this context are used with near-equal frequency, when a person first encounters the word ''GIF'', they make a guess akin to flipping a coin by comparing it to other words they have encountered in the past. Once they have a favorite one way or the other, the notion is solidified—leading McCulloch to comment that this "probably means we'll be fighting the gif pronunciation war for generations to come".<ref name="McCulloch 2021" />
=== Arguments === A 2019 analysis by linguist Marten van der Meulen found that the most common arguments employed online over the pronunciation of ''GIF'' are "system" arguments, which support one side of the debate by contending that the pronunciation should flow from a consistent rule of language.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|pp=46, 49}} One example of this would be the "system acronym" argument: the idea that because the letter ''g'' in ''GIF'' stands for the word ''graphics'', it ought to be pronounced in the acronym with the same phoneme as in the word, i.e. with a hard ''g''. This particular argument is sometimes accompanied by the quip that if the acronym were to be pronounced with a soft ''g'', the word should be pronounced likewise, as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|r|æ|f|ɪ|k|s}} ("''jraphics''").{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=46}}<ref name="Locker 2020" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Salvador |date=June 15, 2012 |title=GIF's 25th birthday: Is it pronounced ''gif'' or ''jif''{{-?}} |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-jun-15-la-fi-tn-gif-jiff-25th-birthday-20120615-story.html |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129035407/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-jun-15-la-fi-tn-gif-jiff-25th-birthday-20120615-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hatfield |first=Daemon |date=May 2, 2017 |title=Most people pronounce GIF as ''ghif''{{px2}} |work=IGN |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/21/most-people-pronounce-gif-as-ghif |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112035943/https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/21/most-people-pronounce-gif-as-ghif |url-status=live }}</ref> A rebuttal to this argument is that acronyms are not required to follow the pronunciations of their root words. For example, the letter ''u'' in the word ''scuba'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|k|uː|b|ə|audio=Scuba.ogg}}—an acronym for ''self-contained underwater breathing apparatus''—is pronounced {{IPAc-en|uː}} even though its deriving word, ''underwater'', is pronounced instead with {{IPAc-en|ʌ}}.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=46}} A similar acronym discrepancy arises with ''NASA'' (''National Aeronautics and Space Administration'', pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|æ|s|ə|audio=En-us-NASA.oga}}).<ref name="McCulloch 2021">{{Cite news|last=McCulloch|first=Gretchen|date=December 24, 2021|title=Why the pronunciation of ''GIF'' really can go either way|work=Mental Floss|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/69147/why-pronunciation-gif-really-can-go-either-way|access-date=December 24, 2021|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224094624/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/69147/why-pronunciation-gif-really-can-go-either-way|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=46}}
Another example of a "system" argument is frequency analysis, which examines how many other English words employ hard or soft ''g'' pronunciations in other situations, similar to Dow's analysis.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=49}} After Steve Wilhite announced his opinion that the soft ''g'' pronunciation was the only correct form, there was significant chatter on social media and in the press on both sides of the issue.<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /> An article by Casey Chan, writing for ''Gizmodo'', argued that Wilhite was wrong because soft ''g'' words followed by ''if'' should be spelled with the letter ''j'', such as the "jiffy" in "Jiffy Lube" and "be back in a jiffy", as well as the peanut butter company Jif.<ref name="Chan 2013">{{Cite news|last=Chan|first=Casey|date=May 21, 2013|title=The creator of the GIF says it's pronounced ''JIF''. He is wrong.|work=Gizmodo|url=https://gizmodo.com/the-creator-of-the-gif-says-its-pronounced-jif-he-is-509179289|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129033715/https://gizmodo.com/the-creator-of-the-gif-says-its-pronounced-jif-he-is-509179289|url-status=live}}</ref>
The next most common argument found in van der Meulen's analysis was an argument that cited an authority, usually Wilhite, as the creator of the file format.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=48}} After Wilhite announced his support for the soft ''g'' pronunciation, many recognized him as the authority on the pronunciation of the word due to his creation of its format. Wilhite is the most commonly cited authority for the pronunciation of ''GIF''; 65.2 percent of surveyed arguments citing an authority favored a soft ''g''.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=48}} Some, including Casey Chan, cited U.S. President Barack Obama in supporting the hard ''g'';<ref name="Chan 2013" /> others cited various dictionaries, or software assistants such as Siri as authorities for ''GIF''{{'s}} pronunciation.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=48}}
=== Polling === {{Pie chart |radius = 100 |caption = The number of users who supported each variant of the word's pronunciation in van der Meulen's analysis |label1 = Hard ''g'' |value1 = 57.2 |label2 = Soft ''g'' |value2 = 31.8 |label3 = Both (favoring soft ''g'') |value3 = 8.2 |label4 = Pronounce each letter |value4 = 2.8 }} A 2013 online poll of 30,706 people worldwide by ''Mashable'', Addvocate, and Column Five found that seven in ten preferred the hard ''g'' over the soft ''g''.<ref><ul><li>{{Cite web|last=Buck|first=Stephanie|date=November 5, 2013|title=How do you pronounce these 5 tech terms?|website=Mashable|url=https://mashable.com/archive/mispronounced-tech-terms|access-date=June 5, 2025|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720014939/https://mashable.com/archive/mispronounced-tech-terms|url-status=live}}</li><li>{{Cite news|last=Buck|first=Stephanie|date=October 21, 2014|title=70 percent of people worldwide pronounce ''GIF'' with a hard ''g''{{px2}}|work=Mashable|url=https://mashable.com/archive/mispronounced-words-tech|access-date=June 5, 2025|archive-date=December 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223162234/https://mashable.com/archive/mispronounced-words-tech|url-status=live}}</li><li>{{Cite web|last=French|first=Katy|date=November 20, 2014|title=Project snapshot: Mashable's 'something's got to GIF' interactive poll and infographics|website=Column Five Media|url=https://www.columnfivemedia.com/project-snapshot-mashables-somethings-got-gif-interactive-poll-results|access-date=June 5, 2025|archive-date=December 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207110433/http://www.columnfivemedia.com/project-snapshot-mashables-somethings-got-gif-interactive-poll-results|url-status=live}}</li></ul></ref>
Van der Meulen's analysis found that 57.2 percent of users who offered an opinion supported the hard ''g'', while 31.8 percent favored the soft ''g''. The analysis also found that 8.2 percent of users support both pronunciations, while favoring the soft ''g'', and 2.8 percent favored enunciating each letter.{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=47}}
An informal poll of developers on Stack Overflow showed that 65.6 percent of respondents favored the hard ''g'' pronunciation, while 26.3 percent used the soft ''g'', 6 percent sounded out every letter, and 2 percent employed a different pronunciation altogether.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017|title=Developer survey results|url=https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017|access-date=February 21, 2022|website=Stack Overflow|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218084031/https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017?utm_source=so-owned&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=dev-survey-2017&utm_content=blog-link#technology|url-status=live}}</ref> However, an analysis from ''The Economist'' argued that the disparities in the results were exaggerated by sampling bias; the article commented that while the countries where the hard ''g'' is used make up 45 percent of the world's population, respondents from those countries comprised 79 percent of the sample. When the populations of each country were adjusted for, the analysis found that hard ''g'' still led, albeit by a narrower margin of 44 percent to 32 percent for soft ''g''. In addition, this adjustment brought the popularity of pronouncing each letter up to 21 percent; this variation is common in Asian countries, where it is employed by half of Chinese respondents and 70 percent of South Korean respondents. Developed countries as a whole tended to favor the hard ''g'' pronunciation.<ref name="The Economist 2017">{{Cite news |date=June 29, 2017 |title=How do you pronounce ''GIF''{{-?}} |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/06/29/how-do-you-pronounce-gif |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129033715/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/06/29/how-do-you-pronounce-gif |archive-date=November 29, 2021}}</ref>
=== Dictionaries === Different dictionaries disagree on the inclusion and ordering of different pronunciations. {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Dictionary !Edition !Language !First pronunciation !Second pronunciation !Citation |- | rowspan="2" |''Cambridge Dictionary'' | rowspan="2" |Online |American English | rowspan="2" align="center" |{{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | rowspan="2" align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | rowspan="2" align="center" | <ref>{{cite web |title=GIF |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/business-english/gif?q=gif |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227180258/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/business-english/gif?q=gif |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |access-date=July 11, 2024 |work=Cambridge Dictionary |type=Online}}</ref> |- |British English |- |''Collins English Dictionary'' |Twelfth Edition 2014 |English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | <ref name="The Free Dictionary">{{Citation |title=GIF |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/GIF |work=The Free Dictionary |access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref> |- |''Dictionary.com'' |Online |English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | <ref>{{Dictionary.com|GIF|online=|date=|accessdate=August 27, 2023}}</ref> |- |''Lexico'' |Online |English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | <ref>{{cite web |title=GIF |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/GIF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012205125/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/GIF |archive-date=October 12, 2014 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |work=Lexico |publisher=Oxford University Press |type=Online}}</ref> |- |''Merriam-Webster'' |Online |English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | <ref>{{cite web |title=GIF |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gif |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022062546/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gif |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |website=Merriam-Webster |type=Online}}</ref> |- |''New Oxford American Dictionary'' |Second Edition 2005 |American English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | {{Sfn|The New Oxford American Dictionary|2005|p=711}} |- |''Oxford Dictionary of English'' |Third Edition 2010 |English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | {{Sfn|Oxford Dictionary of English|2010|page=737}} |- |''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' |Fifth Edition 2016 |American English | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}} | align="center" | <ref name="The Free Dictionary" /> |- |''Petit Robert'' |Online |French | align="center" | {{IPAc-fr|ʒ|i|f}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | <ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=gif |encyclopedia=Petit Robert |publisher=Dictionnaires Le Robert |url=https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/gif |access-date=August 27, 2023 |language=fr |type=Online}}</ref> |- |''Petit Larousse'' |Online |French | align="center" | {{IPAc-fr|ʒ|i|f}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | <ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=gif |encyclopedia=Petit Larousse |publisher=Éditions Larousse |url=https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/gif/188132 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |lang=fr |type=Online}}</ref> |- |''Det Norske Akademis ordbok'' |Online |Norwegian | align="center" | {{IPA|no|gifː|}} | align="center" | — | align="center" | <ref name="Det Norske Akademis ordbok" /> |} {{clear right}}
== Incidents == [[File:White House Tumblr launch image.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The White House's account on Tumblr posted a humorous infographic in 2013 indicating that ''GIF'' was to be pronounced with a hard ''g''.|alt=Refer to the caption]]
In May 2013, Wilhite was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the annual Webby Awards honoring excellence on the Internet. Upon accepting the award at the ceremony, Wilhite displayed a five-word slide that simply read, in all caps: "It's pronounced 'jif' not 'gif{{'"}}. Here, ''jif'' refers to the soft ''g'' pronunciation.<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /> Following the speech, Wilhite told ''The New York Times'': "The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft ''g'' ... End of story."<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /><ref name="Locker 2020">{{Cite magazine |last=Locker |first=Melissa |date=February 26, 2020 |title=Here's a timeline of the debate about how to pronounce ''GIF''{{px2}} |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/5791028/how-to-pronounce-gif/ |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301111617/https://time.com/5791028/how-to-pronounce-gif/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The audience attending the ceremony reacted positively to the short speech, but it generated controversy online, with some commentators pushing back against Wilhite's pronunciation.<ref name="Gross 2013" /><ref name="Perlman 2016" /> Van der Meulen remarked that this "seems to be the first ever coiner of a word (or acronym, to be more specific) who gave usage advice about his own creation".{{Sfn|van der Meulen|2019|p=45}} More than 17,000 tweets were made in the aftermath of the speech, making "GIF" a trending topic,<ref name="Gross 2013">{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Doug |date=May 22, 2013 |title=It's settled! Creator tells us how to pronounce ''GIF''{{px2}} |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301054343/https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and more than 50 news articles were written on the incident.<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /> The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' remarked three years later that the debate seemed to peak with this incident.<ref name="Perlman 2016">{{Cite news |last=Perlman |first=Merrill |date=July 18, 2016 |title=The great GIF debate |work=Columbia Journalism Review |url=https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/gif_jif_graphics_interchange_format.php |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130075606/https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/gif_jif_graphics_interchange_format.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The peanut butter company Jif responded to a tweet asking how they were feeling following the speech, commenting, "We're nuts about him today."<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /> Seven years later, Jif performed a publicity stunt with GIF-hosting platform Giphy. The two companies released a joint statement, arguing that the correct pronunciation employs a hard ''g'' and releasing limited-time jars of peanut butter labeled "GIF" instead of "JIF".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ritzen |first=Stacey |date=February 25, 2020 |title=Jif peanut butter and Giphy have joined forces on how to pronounce ''GIF''{{px2}} |work=The Daily Dot |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/jif-pronunciation-peanut-butter-gif/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128235952/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/jif-pronunciation-peanut-butter-gif/ |archive-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref>
In October 2013, ''The New York Times'' faced some light criticism on social media for an article written by Sarah Lyall that began with the words, "A GIF, pronounced jif, is a compressed image file format invented in 1987."<ref name="Bump 2013">{{Cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=October 22, 2013 |title=If you pronounce GIF with a hard ''g'', you must be new to the internet |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/if-you-pronounce-gif-hard-g-you-must-be-new-internet/309696/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/kL9XY |archive-date=June 16, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The article included a link to an earlier article from the newspaper, covering Wilhite's speech and the quote he gave them.<ref name="O'Leary 2013" /><ref name="Bump 2013" /> In December 2013, Alex Trebek, the host of game show ''Jeopardy!'', attracted media attention when the final clue of the episode referenced Wilhite's presentation and opinion on the pronunciation. Trebek read out the responses of contestants using a soft ''g'' when the word "GIF" appeared in the correct responses of all three contestants.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rothberg|first=Daniel|date=December 4, 2013|title=''Jeopardy'' wades into ''GIF'' pronunciation battle|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-sh-alex-trebek-gif-pronunciation-jeopardy-20131204-story.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128235951/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-sh-alex-trebek-gif-pronunciation-jeopardy-20131204-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the past, Trebek had pronounced each letter individually, to remain neutral.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |date=December 4, 2013 |title=''Jeopardy'' has conclusively settled the ''GIF'' pronunciation war |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2013/12/04/jeopardy-has-conclusively-settled-the-gif-pronunciation-war/ |access-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304210747/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2013/12/04/jeopardy-has-conclusively-settled-the-gif-pronunciation-war/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In June 2014, Barack Obama, then President of the United States, opined that the acronym should be pronounced with a hard ''g'' when prompted in a conversation with David Karp, the founder of Tumblr. Miles Klee of ''The Daily Dot'' highlighted an April 2013 post on the White House's Tumblr blog, which included a humorous infographic with the text "animated GIFs (hard 'g')".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Klee|first=Miles|date=June 13, 2014|title=Obama to America: Pronounce ''GIF'' with a hard ''g''{{px2}}|work=The Daily Dot|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/obama-gif-pronunciation/|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128235950/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/obama-gif-pronunciation/|url-status=live}}</ref>
== See also == * English usage controversies * Hard and soft ''g'' * JPEG Interchange Format, a different image format that uses the acronym ''JIF'' * Linguistic prescription {{clear}}
== References == {{reflist}}
=== Cited works === {{Refbegin}} * {{Cite journal |last=van der Meulen |first=Marten |date=May 22, 2019 |title=Obama, SCUBA or gift?: Authority and argumentation in online discussion on the pronunciation of GIF |url=|journal=English Today |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=45–50|doi=10.1017/S0266078419000142|doi-access=free|hdl=2066/212886 |hdl-access=free }} * {{cite book|title=The New Oxford American Dictionary|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-517077-1|editor-last=McKean|editor-first=Erin|editor1-link=Erin McKean|edition=2nd|oclc=123434455|ref={{harvid|The New Oxford American Dictionary|2005}}}} * {{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-957112-3|editor-last=Stevenson|editor-first=Angus|edition=3rd|location=Oxford|oclc=729551189|ref={{harvid|Oxford Dictionary of English|2010}}}}
== External links == {{Spoken Wikipedia|date=March 16, 2024|En-Pronunciation of GIF-article.ogg}}
Category:English usage controversies Category:English phonology Category:Internet culture {{Refend}}