Is it 'gif' or 'jif'?
Steve Wilhite invented the format and insisted on 'jif.' Almost everyone says 'gif.' Dictionaries list both. The Judge rules. Below: both sides as they'd actually put it, then the ruling The Judge gives when two people bring this one into a Settle It room.
Both sides
Hard G. It stands for Graphics Interchange Format. Graphics. Nobody says 'jraphics.' The word tells you how to say it.
Soft G. The man who invented it said 'jif,' accepted a Webby award with a slide that said 'It's pronounced JIF,' and went to his grave saying it. Inventors get naming rights.
The Judge's ruling
Ruling: Max's facts hold: Steve Wilhite created the GIF at CompuServe in 1987 and used his 2013 Webby acceptance to insist on the soft G. But English does not run on inventor's intent, it runs on usage, and every major dictionary now lists both pronunciations. Jo's 'graphics' argument is weaker than it sounds, since acronyms take their own pronunciation all the time (nobody says 'scuba' the way its words are spelled). The honest ruling is that this is a coin with two faces and the hard G is the side facing up in most rooms.
Sentence: Say it however you like. Anyone who corrects the other person's pronunciation forfeits the next argument automatically.
Share the card, or better, send the loser the link. Sample ruling: in a real room The Judge asks each side follow-up questions first, then rules on what you actually said.
Sources
- Steve Wilhite, 2013 Webby Awards: 'It's pronounced JIF' (The New York Times)
- Oxford English Dictionary lists both pronunciations