Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday February 27 2020, @10:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-not-geef-either dept.

Peanut butter brand Jif has put forth their opinion on how to pronounce GIF.

From their website(warning, lots of animated GIFs):

When is it OK to call a Gif a "Jif"? Never.

Jif® is peanut butter. GIFs are
looping animations.
SNACK ON THAT.

That would be all well and good except for just one thing. The person who actually created the format, Steve Wilhite, explicitly stated GIF was to be pronounced with a soft "G"!

From a 1997 edition of the NetBITS newsletter, down near the bottom of the page appears:

It's "Jiff" and I Don't Want to Hear Another Word -- Logic may dictate the "g" in GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is pronounced hard, like gift or gefilte fish, but that didn't stop dozens and dozens of readers from offering opinions, many of them hilarious.

However, several people wrote to say that they either worked with folks at CompuServe or read the original GIF specification, all of which specified a soft "g". None of us at NetBITS understand why we haven't seen the definitive word before, so here it is. Charlie Reading <charlier@kreber.com> writes:

I worked with the creator of GIF (Steve Wilhite) when I was still employed by CompuServe. Steve always pronounced it "jiff" and would correct those who pronounced it with a hard G. "Choosy developers choose GIF" (spinning off of a historically popular peanut butter commercial).

An article at Ars Technica actually queries professional linguists in pursuit of the ultimate answer.

See this Sesame Street-like GIF which mentions popular words that start with a soft G such as Giant and Giraffe.

Lastly, here is a short video (1m18s) with what is quite possibly the strongest affirmation of all. David Karp presents Steve Wilhite with the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 17th Annual Webbys where Steve dramatically uses a GIF as his acceptance 'speech' and sets the matter straight once and for all.

Not that it settles anything. The debate will rage on like vi vs. Emacs.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:12AM (10 children)

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:12AM (#963411) Journal
    --
    Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by zocalo on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:38AM (5 children)

    by zocalo (302) on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:38AM (#963420)
    As an aside, and to fan the flames a bit (OK, "troll"), should that site's name be pronounced "Git-Hub" or "Jit-Hub", because it seems to me many of the arguments around "GIF" centre on whether the "G" is hard as in "graphics" or soft because it's followed by a vowel as written, rather than a reference to a PB spread. English... there's *always* an exception to the "rule".

    And if you think it's "Jith-Ub", seriously, GTFO. :)
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:24PM

      by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:24PM (#963441) Journal

      I consider github as just a separation stage of soul-absorbing monsters infinite evolution hierarchy: amoeba, medusa, octopus, github, c'thulhu, ...

      --
      Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:10PM (2 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:10PM (#963467) Journal

      "Git"hub always seemed perjorative. What is it with software and poor branding?

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 4, Informative) by stormreaver on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:32PM

        by stormreaver (5101) on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:32PM (#963490)

        "Git"hub always seemed perjorative. What is it with software and poor branding?

        When Linus was looking for a name for the software that would become git, he was explicitly looking for something slightly insulting. It was intentional.

        As for poor branding: I would be happy to have a "poor" brand that completely dominates its field. Linus did it twice. Back in the 90's, many people thought that a penguin was a bad choice of mascot for Linux. As I said back then, Linus understood branding WAY better than his critics.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Thursday February 27 2020, @03:17PM

        by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday February 27 2020, @03:17PM (#963527)

        Torvalds sarcastically quipped about the name git (which means unpleasant person in British English slang): "I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself. First 'Linux', now 'git'."[23][24] The man page describes Git as "the stupid content tracker".[25] The read-me file of the source code elaborates further:[26]

        The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker" and the name as (depending on your way):

        - random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
        stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
        - "global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
        - "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:16PM (#963475)

      And if you think it's "Jith-Ub", seriously, GTFO. :)

      I agree with the poth-ead!

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:12PM (3 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:12PM (#963434) Homepage
    ctrl-z doesn't suspend it, therefore it's not a console or terminal based editor, it's an abomination.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:29PM (2 children)

      by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:29PM (#963444) Journal

      Real men use tmux, not ctrl-z.

      --
      Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:38PM

        by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:38PM (#963445) Journal

        I apologize for impetuous gender bias. Of course I meant "girls and real men".

        --
        Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday February 27 2020, @10:09PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday February 27 2020, @10:09PM (#963810) Homepage
        If you can't tell the difference between the shell that launched the editor and the shell that launched the tmux session, then you don't deserve a CLI.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves