If he didn’t want people to pronounce it two different ways he should have spelled it differently.
Comment on looking forward to the comments
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Wilhite says jif, I use jif. He created it, he gets to name it.
blackbrook@mander.xyz 1 year ago
Lightor@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Right? And people get mad at me for saying gur-affe at the zoo. They should have slept it different if they wanted me to say jir-affe.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Yea, should have. As another commenter posted, Wilhite should have called it the jraphics interchange format.
Ocelot@lemmies.world 1 year ago
Ah, yes “Jrafic interchange format”
Hyperi0n@lemmy.film 1 year ago
Ah, yes. NaySAh(NASA), SaKUBA(SCUBA), MeDAS(MIDAS), JayFEG(JPEG), RADiR(RADAR) …
samus12345@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Acronyms are not pronounced based on the words that form them.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
That’s what the inventor chose, so yup. Unfortunately, jif is the correct pronunciation.
My favorite example of this is aluminum. Twice now, I’ve spoken to British English speakers that insist aluminum is pronounced the British way. And when I point out aluminum is an American invention, they check their phone, roll their eyes, and accept that I can say it that way, but they never will.
And euphonically they’re correct, the British pronunciation of aluminum sounds way cooler. I used to use gif until I looked up the usage history specifically for these moments, hahaha. But that’s not its name. So I use jif.
DulyNoted@lemmy.world 1 year ago
There’s a concept in linguistics known as descriptivism vs proscriptivism. We either accept that things change meanings and pronunciations regionally and over time, or we try to absolutely state that there’s one correct way, and every other way is wrong.
A major issue with the “I’m right you’re wrong” approach is the in-group decides who is right and wrong. Regional slang is just wrong, not an equally valid way to speak. Those with formal educations are inherently more correct, and thus their grasp of their native language is more correct. This doesn’t really make sense when you think about it, other than to put down groups perceived as lesser.
Additionally, academics can convince themselves of one thing, and totally fail to be relevant to the real world. This leads your average person to become disenfranchised with academia and talk about how academics in their ivory towers have no understanding of how the real world works.
Anyway, that’s why I pronounce it joeff.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Very nicely put. I always noticed this phenomenon but ascribed it to people clinging to schemic security blankets, but it’s good to know that there’s a term that describes the illogical dependence on evolving correctness.
agent_flounder@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Aluminium sounds cool if you’re British and aluminum sounds cool if you’re American. How do the other English speaking countries say it?
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I’ve only heard the British and American version myself
CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
Unfortunately, jif is the correct pronunciation.
Incorrect. I’ve already covered why in previous comments though.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Back at you.
CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
He didn’t tell anyone it was pronounced jif till a great many years later, after most people were pronouncing it gif.
He lost the right to dictate how everyone else pronounces it for that reason alone.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I understand that some people feel very strongly about pronunciations. So be angry about the correct pronunciation, heck, don’t use the correct pronunciation, who cares?
But Wilhite made it, so he gets to name it, regardless of the popularity of later pronunciation debates that largely take place in a forum where you can’t actually pronounce the word because we’re all typing. It’s pretty funny.
bustrpoindextr@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Gerrymandering was named after Elbridge Gerry, but his name is pronounced Gary: youtu.be/Rp0Qz19nlG4
Popularity of pronunciation does actually matter, regardless of origin.
There are plenty of pronunciations that have changed from the original and are now generally accepted as correct. Here are some examples
…wordpress.com/…/10-words-whose-pronunciation-has…
Anywho, if you have any recommendations for birthday jifts for kids, lemme know
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Nice! Read the related comment by this juy: lemmy.world/comment/1832124
CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
I’m not angry about the correct pronunciation, since I and most people already do pronounce it correctly. As Gif, not Jif.
You’re right about one thing; he named it. But he doesn’t get to dictate how it’s pronounced many years later after the majority had already been pronouncing it a certain way. If he wanted it called Jif, then he should have said so from the very beginning. Why wait till 2013? Doesn’t that seem odd to you?
I’m sorry but the popularity of how a word is pronounced does in fact actually matter. Plus, the English language is changing all the time and how we pronounce certain words also changes.
I’ve used the word Gif in real life, multiple times. Everyone I know pronounces it the same way. 🤷🏻♀️
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
However, you want to pronounce it is fine, but it doesn’t make it correct.
I don’t think there’s a time limit on announcing the way a creator prefers to pronounce the name of his creation.
It became an internet sensation, people asked him about the correct way to pronounce guf, he said how he prefers to pronounce it.
I prefer to pronounce it that way as well, as the original pronunciation by the creator. That’s more correct to me, but nobody’s forcing you to pronounce it any particular way.
Hyperi0n@lemmy.film 1 year ago
Most people pronounced it correctly. Hard G was mocked on many tech sites and sites like 4chan.
CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
You mean “jif” was openly mocked, and still is for the most part. Anyone referring to it as Jif is typically viewed as pretentious.
But you are correct about people pronouncing it correctly; as Gif. =)
Hyperi0n@lemmy.film 1 year ago
Soft G was only recently psedo-mocked on tech-stupid subreddits.