this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
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[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm sorry but this is hilarious, and I'm in the "jif" crowd...

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's disingenuous, because the letter g has multiple pronunciations. Good job, you identified one word that begins with a hard g. All I have to do to counter that argument is identify a word that begins with a soft g: general.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

So, "jod" is hilarious, but "jift" is disingenuous?
I don't get it, but I guess it's fine.


Also, I was trying to go by the fact that "gift" has the same 2 letters after the 'g' as "gif", which tends to be an often stated thing when people try to make a semblance of logic^[people tend to look at the previous and next letter, and if that one is a consonant, then maybe also the 2nd, previous and next letter.], explaining why something is pronounced the way it is, in English (and then also used in comedies, where all of that logic fails due to exceptions everywhere).

For pronunciation in the English language, I consider that there is often not a logic behind it, but a history. And from that POV, "jif" would be the correct one (∵ the creators). But I still pronounce it "gif", because:

  • it's an acronym, so I consider the pronunciation to not be very important and it is better to go with what clicks in my mind faster ^[Not many people go around arguing 'nome vs G-nome, right?]
  • I first read .gif in a file name and there was noone to tell me how it was pronounced. I went with G.I.F. until I felt like calling it "gif" with the logic of "gift". Then again, I heard quite a few people call it "gif" and it set in.
[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

'Ginger' and 'ginko' both start with 'gin' yet the former is a soft g and the latter a hard g. Just because it starts the same doesn't mean the pronuncuation needs to be.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"jod" was clearly meant to be humorous, and the delivery was perfect. "Jift" was either an attempt at a real argument, or else it was piggybacking on the previous joke making it unoriginal in addition to poorly delivered.

Also, how do you pronounce giraffe?

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Like, as in "jiraffe" or are you literally saying "guh-raffe"?

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That still doesn't tell me whether you're using a soft g or a hard g

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

At this point only IPA can help, only it uses the same symbol, smh: ɡɪˈrɑːf

Edit: it looks like monospace doesn't render IPA properly: ɡɪˈrɑːf