How do you pronounce CD?

I loved Idea Channel.

Yes, but how would Jod pronounce PNG?

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 mean, they got to name it... How it sounds is part of that

How it sounds is a lot more related to basic prononciation rules then the arbitrary whims of the inventor.

In this case, he chose to name it GIF which is, believe it or not, pronounced gif in the English language. If he wanted to have it sound like jif, he should have named it JIF.

Not to say that we don't sometimes disregard the rules for certain words. Ultimately a words meaning and prononciation is collectively decided through usage. I think collectively, we have chosen to ignore the creators lack of basic linguistic skills and prononce the word how it's written.

The "G" stands for "Graphics". Why would anybody pronounce it "jif"?

Did Jeorge of the gungle come by too?

If you read my name, and I pointed out that your pronunciation was wrong, would you tell me my pronunciation is incorrect due to pronunciation rules rather than how my parents named me?

Edit: and I'll just note, a soft g is very well defined, and is usually behind an e, i, or y, while a hard g is typically behind an a, o, or u, but let's focus on the whole "who gets to choose how a name is pronounced" bit for a moment.

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.

So the creator, the way a soft vs hard g is used in the English language, etc, none of that matters.

Noted, enjoy your day.

If you pronounce gif based on the word itself, it would clearly have a hard "G". I don't think it's decided by the creator anymore then by the words making up the acronym either.

Imo, word pronunciation and meaning depends on whatever "takes" in society. Most just say it like it would sound, the creators pronunciation clearly lost.

I mean, they got to name it... How it sounds is part of that

How it sounds is a lot more related to basic prononciation rules then the arbitrary whims of the inventor.

In this case, he chose to name it GIF which is, believe it or not, pronounced gif in the English language. If he wanted to have it sound like jif, he should have named it JIF.

Not to say that we don't sometimes disregard the rules for certain words. Ultimately a words meaning and prononciation is collectively decided through usage. I think collectively, we have chosen to ignore the creators lack of basic linguistic skills and prononce the word how it's written.

There’s no linguistic requirement for any of the letters to match any part of the pronunciation.

I made no statements to the contrary, not sure why you directed any of that first paragraph at me and not the person I responded to. Regardless, the only "correct" pronunciations of any words are the ones that find purchase in the cultural lexicon. The fact that the soft g pronunciation was chosen by a corporation trying to cash in on the success of a different corporation is even less convincing of an argument. Fuck those soulless money-grubbers, they can take their advertising slogan-based neoligisms and shove them in their arse, but pronounced like "ass" because language evolves. You have to evolve with it or you won't understand it.

I didn't cite any reasons and I didn't say that there is a correct and incorrect way to pronounce it now, just that the way they chose to pronounce it originally was arbitrary and unintuitive. Add a "t" to the end, what does that spell? The pronunciations of giraffe and gin are equally unintuitive to modern American English speakers, they're just old words that have been well-established in the lexicon so no one thinks about that. If someone came up with the word gin today, we'd probably be having the same argument about it.

And when I said it's the only argument, I meant it's the only one that holds any water. It's still leaking all over the place.

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.

Gif is a proper noun and a computer product. It’s not a simple word like “arse”. This would be like people saying Nike should be pronounced “Nick” and the company “Nike” is yelling “no it’s Nike! Like the god!” And people are just like, “nah I don’t care what you want your company to be called, I’m calling it something else.”