The GIF Pronunciation Page: Is it “gif” or “jif”? This guy spells out why it’s “jif” like the peanut butter.

CompuServe used to distribute a graphics display program called CompuShow. In the documentation for version 8.33 in the FAQ section, it states:

The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), pronounced “JIF”, was designed by CompuServe and the official specification released in June of 1987.

There’s more evidence on the page, and it’s pretty compelling. The argument still rages, however. These people over at Everything2 could go either way.

Comments

1. Comment by Pavel, June 1, 2005 5:25 pm

   Is not the prounancination Gif with (g as in game)?

2. Comment by Some Guy, June 11, 2005 7:18 am

   All Official CompuServe documentation that specifies the pronunciation of the “G I F” extension as the most famously wonderful peanut butter, namely JIF, is correct. Anyone else who says it wrong hasn’t seen the official information, or is just an idiot. I speculate on the latter. ^_^

3. Comment by Some Other Guy, May 7, 2008 10:20 am

   Anyone who gives this subject any serious thought is an idiot.

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