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.

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.

There's already a file format by the name .jif!

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

I think that's the conclusion most come to and why the hard G is the most common.

You’re literally just making up things at this point. Just because you thought that does not mean even a slight minority thought or thinks that.

I'm pointing to the lead of the team that created it. They get to name it, not me.

I'm also not oddly mad about it like the person replying to me with lots of exclamation points, the user in OPs image, or the person using their alt that has only been used to downvote people they are in conversations with for the past few months.

All I said was the people responsible for it say its a soft g, not a hard g.

or the person using their alt that has only been used to downvote people they are in conversations with for the past few months.

Wow. You did a lot of research into who has been downvoting you for someone who isn't mad about this...

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.

Just because you thought that does not mean even a slight minority thought or thinks that.

Did a quick search for a survey, first link has 77% pronouncing it with a hard g:
https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2016/11/08/results-of-the-gif-survey/

You're welcome to present a survey that shows a different result.

Thankfully wiktionary

Okay, so common consensus is a valid source then?

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?"

You’re just changing the conversation. You said “the closest word is gift… that’s the conclusion most come to”. Which is just not provable. The reason the number is so high for hard g (I have a different survey that says 51% in that same year) is because people like you thinking that you know the “rules” of English and then telling everyone to pronounce it hard g. So their first encounter with the word is literally someone pronouncing it wrong. It has nothing to do with them associating it with “gift”.

Edit: you’re not even the person I was talking to so you’re definitely stepping in and saying things that have nothing to do with the convo.

Not really, no, I'm playing with the client communication so I can contribute updates, so ive been using a rather fugly web interface I made. Up/downvote activity is visible in that.

Your arguments are inane. Please stop talking to me.