Choose your answer and the correct choice will be revealed.
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) was created in 1987 by CompuServe employee Steve Wilhite, who insisted at the 2013 Webby Award show that the format was always intended to be pronounced as “Jif” with a soft “G,” a nod to the American peanut butter brand Jif. This playful approach was even echoed within CompuServe, where workers would quip, “choosy developers choose GIF,” mimicking the peanut butter brand’s slogan.
However, the pronunciation with a hard “G” (like the word “gift”) has become so widespread that major dictionaries, including American Heritage, Merriam-Webster, and the New Oxford American Dictionary, now list both pronunciations. Interestingly, even these sources differ on which pronunciation they prioritize. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary favors “Jif,” while Merriam-Webster leans toward “Gif,” as evidenced by their audio pronunciations.
Ultimately, it’s been decided that both sides are correct and that the g in GIF can go either way – it’s really a matter of personal preference.
GIFs were once on the brink of extinction, but they found new life and mainstream adoption on the modern web. Their resurgence is largely due to the popularity of animated memes and stickers, particularly on mobile devices and messaging apps.
