rule
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The U in scuba stands for underwater yet people pronounce it scOOba
The E in hepa stands for efficiency yet its pronounced HEPA with a short E
The A in nato stands for Atlantic and the O stands for organization
The first A in ASAP is for as
The Os in POTUS, SCOTUS and FLOTUS all come from of and the Us comes from United
Acronyms don’t need to sound like the word they are from
And words don't need to sound the way they did when they were coined
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Because at the origin of the format, "choosy graphic designers choose .GIF". Which is a direct reference to JIF, the brand of peanut butter, and their tagline.
The pronunciation of an acronym often has little to nothing to do with the words themselves they represent, and more to do with the acronym itself as though it were a word.
So they decided how it should be pronounced based on a cheap marketing ploy, even less reason to care how the creators said it.
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There's already a file format by the name
.jif!Smooth or crunchy?
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How do you pronounce CD?
As the initialism it is. It's impossible to mispronounce, or have multiple competing pronunciations for initialisms as the names of letters are contextually static. Yes C can make different sounds in words, but if you're just saying the name of the letter, there's only one way to say it.
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Linearity uses LASER ARGUMENT!
LASER is actually an acronym that stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” however it is widely pronounced as “lazer”.
Laser argument is ineffective
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Lmao, idk why anyone would claim that either. Re: the other part, I also don’t think there’s any inherent reason the “f”, but in my sleepy haze writing this last night I wasn’t able to think of an example with the soft “g” followed by “if”. I feel like it must exist but I’m too tired to find it.
Looks like the only "normal"(ish) word that has the gif string is fungi, and even that has both hard/soft g listed as pronunciations. There are also apparently a few long words like spongiferous and some biologic classes (as opposed to (eg) species) ending in -formes that happen to end in -giformes (like Archaeopterygiformes). But I wouldn't expect too many people to have those in their pocket during a discussion of -gif- words.
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Gif of Akhnai
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Linearity uses LASER ARGUMENT!
LASER is actually an acronym that stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” however it is widely pronounced as “lazer”.
Reason, phase, rose, busy, raise, chose, kaiser, miser, rise, lose
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We’ve solidly been talking about English this whole time, since the entire basis for the pronunciation is that it’s a play on an English advertisement “choosy developers choose gif”. I’m not going to argue with other languages. Just like with the dude that is pulling out Ancient Greek, if anyone still speaks that they yeah they can pronounce Nike differently, otherwise it’s a translation to English.
Even English doesn't have one size fits all rules. Language is social and regional. If one English speaking country pronounces zebra as "zee-bra" and another pronounces it as "zeh-bra" they're both right.
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Yeah I pulled it out originally because I was tired of people saying that "gi" is almost always hard g, and I don't think the lack of f makes a difference (because English spelling rules are silly, like you say. In the other thread I mentioned that just because the word "women" exists we don't pronounce every "wom" sequence with a short i sound).
Not everyone pronounces "women" with a short i sound, it's regional and there are no arguments about the "proper" pronouciation. The word is clearly understood either way so it doesn't matter.
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You understand it actually is pronounced jif right?
The fact that you had to spell it wrong to communicate the "proper" pronouciation is not a good sign for your argument.
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As the initialism it is. It's impossible to mispronounce, or have multiple competing pronunciations for initialisms as the names of letters are contextually static. Yes C can make different sounds in words, but if you're just saying the name of the letter, there's only one way to say it.
It always surprises me when people can spend this much time writing something up and miss the greater point even if the specifics can be challenged. The greater point, of course is the 'c' changes based upon phonomes.
Your point is valid, but 'c' is also has competing pronunciations in an acronym. Here's an example.
CERT - Computer Emergency Response TeamThe larger
gifpronunciation has nothing to do with with the fact that thegstands forgraphic. It is irrelevant to the larger topic and is a tangent. -
This g isn't behind anything, it's in front of an i. Add a t to the end of it, that's the most similar word in the entire language. The people using the word choose how it's pronounced, that's what language is.
Gist
Digit
Giraffe
Fragile
Vigilant
Gingerly
Geological
Agile
Engine
Original
Region
Allergic
Longitude
GiantTragic.
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There's already a file format by the name
.jif!And it’s pronounced ’gif’ (probably).
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We’ve solidly been talking about English this whole time, since the entire basis for the pronunciation is that it’s a play on an English advertisement “choosy developers choose gif”. I’m not going to argue with other languages. Just like with the dude that is pulling out Ancient Greek, if anyone still speaks that they yeah they can pronounce Nike differently, otherwise it’s a translation to English.
In English the word "Island" has an 's' in it. This was originally done by someone purposely adding the 's' to make the word look more Latin, even though the English word "eiland" has no Latin root.
So if the original intended usage matters I hope you also correct everyone who uses "island" and tell them "you know it's spelled eiland right?"
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Oh good! Someone that thinks there’s multiple ways to pronounce it. Thankfully wiktionary only has a single IPA pronunciation for both the shoe and the brand and they’re the same.
ˈnaɪkiː. Though I do appreciate you pulling out the Ancient Greek pronunciation as a “gotcha”.Thankfully wiktionary
Okay, so common consensus is a valid source then?
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I don't think it's decided by the creator anymore then by the words making up the acronym either.
I mean, they got to name it... How it sounds is part of that...
Most just say it like it would sound, the creators pronunciation clearly lost.
How long have people been talking about how to pronounce gif?
I don't think there are any winners or losers here.
How long have people been talking about how to pronounce gif? I don't think there are any winners or losers here.
I agree there are no winners, there have been plenty of losers.
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I always felt like this was a weird argument. Language is always in flux. It's why the definition of "literally" now includes a definition that it's a synonym of "figuratively" since people used it that was so much.
If enough people think gif should be pronounced like "god", then it should. If the "jif" pronunciation has enough people who use it, then that's valid, too. Hell, if a bunch of people started legitimately saying it should be a homonym with the word "plankton," even that'd be valid.
Words are about conveying meaning; the same meaning is intended with both pronunciations, and understood by the people hearing it. There's nothing to argue about.
I think most people who argue this either way aren't actually serious about it. You do have solid points, however.
Regardless, I will continue to argue about this point (opposite of whatever side whoever I'm talking to is taking) until it feels more annoying than fun to me.
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gif pronunciation rights are human rights
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let's focus on the whole "who gets to choose how a name is pronounced"
A words meaning and prononciation is collectively decided through usage.
A words meaning and prononciation is collectively decided through usage.
I agree. I know a ton of people that say it one way, and a ton of people who say it the other. At this point, like many English words in a similar scenario, both pronunciations are valid. I prefer to use the creator's pronunciation, but I think saying it the other way is acceptable. At this point, everyone will know what you're talking about regardless of pronunciation.
