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Here's why 'GIF' should be pronounced 'giff,' not 'jiff'

Jul 21, 2015, 00:36 IST

Two years ago, Steve Wilhite - the inventor of the GIF, a file format that shows moving images that's all the rage with kids these days - told The New York Times that everyone was pronouncing his creation wrong. 

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"The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations...They are wrong. It is a soft 'G,' pronounced 'jif.' End of story."

Sorry Mr. Wilhite, but that's not the end of the story.

Many people still pronounce "GIF" as "giff," not "jiff," despite Wilhite's unequivocal statement to the contrary. And if you need a good defense on why you shouldn't pronounce GIF like "jiff," check out this brief clip from Hello Generic, a sketch comedy group based in Connecticut. We've embedded the relevant part of the video in a GIF, to be proper about it.

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Hello Generic

You can check out the full video from Hello Generic below. Hopefully Mr. Wilhite sees this and change his mind.

 

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