this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
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[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 39 points 3 days ago (5 children)

If it were supposed to be pronounced "jif" it would have been spelled that way.

[–] HatchetHaro@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

This is a jem of a response, but by jeneralizing pronunciations of acronyms only by the way they are spelt, you are opening a jigantic can of worms on etymology and linguistics.

The jist of it is that English is a weird language, jenerally descriptive, and there can be many correct answers to the same pronunciation problem.

As for me? I'm a choosy developer, and I choose jif.

[–] frazorth@feddit.uk 5 points 2 days ago

jigantic

I read that as Jig-antic. I would have to turn it into jygantik for it to sound the same.

[–] BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zip 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The creator of the format is documented as having confirmed the pronunciation is "jif", but I don't care. Once he created it and put it into the world, he relinquished his control.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago

This is why literary analysis created death of the author.

[–] DamienGramatacus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I honestly believe he was just trolling when he said that and he probably giggles to himself everytime someone says (shudder) 'jif'. It's a hard G from graphics so I don't know how else is could be reasonably pronounced.

[–] notacat@mander.xyz 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, and yet we all pronounce it β€œlay-Zer” not β€œlay-Ser”

The A in amplification and E in emission are pronounced differently too, so the "correct" pronunciation would be "lah-seer".

[–] derekabutton@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (5 children)

So how do you pronounce giraffe?

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] derekabutton@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah and it's giraffe, not jiraffe. See how that gets us nowhere?

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Jood gob indeed (just kidding, no malice intended)

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

How do you pronounce github? GIMP? GNU? GPU? Javascript?

Oh Geremy, it's time to jo to the jocery store! We need some jrape gelly.

Wait they're supposed to be pronounced with J? Except JS obviously I pronounced them all with G

Geoff is a gentle German giant with ginger hair. He's also a germaphobe, though generally he's still a genuine gentleman. You get the gist.

[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

GIF is an acronym. Giraffe is not. The Giraffe response has been debunked for decades.

Graphical is a hard G.

[–] derekabutton@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Debunked? Its a counterpoint to the fact that it's pronounced that way because it's spelled with a g. If that poor argument wasn't used, the giraffe one wouldn't have to come up. It's not evidence of anything other than that letters can be pronounced in more than one way.

For the graphical thing, imagine pronouncing NASA wrong because of the way aeronautical is pronounce. Or underwater in scuba. World in WHO? The I in AIDS isn't pronounced anything like immunodeficiency.

Your argument doesn't work either.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thank you for providing me all new ways to pronounce things in horribly cursed ways, magic internet man.

Also "laser" as lah-seer

[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml -5 points 2 days ago

The argument holds up.

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If there’s ever a Giraffe Interchange Format, I’ll pronounce it the same as giraffe. And unlike some people, I’ll be able to tell the two apart.

In the meantime, there is a Joint Photographics Experts Group. I love me some deep fried jfegs!

[–] lechatron@lemmy.today 1 points 3 days ago (3 children)
[–] jbrains@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes, but "GIF" is not etymologically Germanic. πŸ˜‰

[–] derekabutton@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

With the other pronunciation. Some letters have more than one. Your statement is nonsense lol

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

How do you pronounce ghoti?

[–] notacat@mander.xyz 4 points 2 days ago

And clearly based on the intense response you win the controversial statement award