Gif vs. Jif: Keep Your Peanut Butter Out of My Moving Images

Apparently, the creator of the gif says that the term is pronounced like the peanut butter brand, Jif. I can’t see how this can be true because, as Salvador Rodriguez points out in his article: “But why “jif” and not “gif?” I mean, its a “graphical” interface format, not a “jraphical” one, right?”

My question: can you create a word and get its pronunciation wrong?

Yes. Because I’m on team gif. When I hear someone pronounce it jif, this is me:

Sorry, Wilhite. I will always appreciate what you did for the internet and how I express my emotions, but I can’t stand with you on this one.

PS–I’m going to pretend this post is related to writing because it’s about language. That counts, right? Whatever, more gifs!

8 thoughts on “Gif vs. Jif: Keep Your Peanut Butter Out of My Moving Images

  1. Deborah the Closet Monster says:

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I loved this post even before I saw it with images, but I REALLY love it now that I’ve seen the pics!

    I just started a new job and work with a guy who looks “exactly like this actor I saw really, really recently, but what actor and from where, dagnabit?!” It’s been bugging me for the last two weeks, but now it’s resolved. The actor he looks like is the dude on the right in the CitW . . . jif. 😀

  2. cobalt714 says:

    I’m on team gif because I’m pretty sure jif was/is a cleaning product in Britain.
    I do love the word “jraphical” but obviously it would mean things related to giraffes.

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