7 ms·
Gif vs jif? Isn't that like asking "Do you pronounce it like it's pronounced or like a different word is pronounced"
by Traster 5y ago
Gif vs jif? Isn't that like asking "Do you pronounce it like it's pronounced or like a different word is pronounced"
- jffry 5y agoYeah a better option would be "like Gift" or "like Jiffy"
- xdennis 5y agoOr, "Do you pronounce 'GIF' like 'giant/ginger/gibbon' or incorrectly?
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> Or, "Do you pronounce 'GIF' like 'giant/ginger/gibbon' or incorrectly? ...you are aware that "gibbon" isn't pronounced with /dʒ/?
- bee_rider 5y agoI think a better option would be, "Like Gila or like dagga?"
- BugsJustFindMe 5y agoA more better option would be "like Gin or like Ginkgo" because it makes it obvious that the "gift has a hard G, therefore..." people have made a mistake. So many people come up with so many fake rules for why it should have a hard G, but there are only two real rules for names, and, yes, GIF is a name (of a format). 1) If the named thing can't speak for itself, the people who named it dictate how the name is pronounced. 2) If it can speak for itself, it dictates. Nobody who isn't the named thing or its namer(s) gets to say how its name is pronounced regardless of what they think of the spelling.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> because it makes it obvious that the "gift has a hard G, therefore..." people have made a mistake. That's obvious anyway; gift is one word (well, also give) swamped in a sea of other gi- words. And gift is a very strange one. What is it, a loan from Norse? You'd think, if it were a native word, that it would have turned into something more like "yift", the way we see in e.g. day, I, or yard.
- sethammons 5y agoYard -> Gard/Jard -> Garden. Mind blown.
- thaumasiotes 5y agoEnglish has a few words taken from Norse that also maintain native equivalents. See also ship / skiff[1]; shirt / skirt. [1] This one's not Norse.
- bener 5y agoIn my opinion this is only true until the "unplanned" usage becomes mainstream. Language is always evolving. Once the majority is using the g sound from "gift" not "gin", the majority rule is correct, even though they would have been initially incorrect. Consider the changes of people's names as they migrated around the world. In NZ, we pronounce Craig as "Crayg", in the US they pronounce it "Creg", which I struggle to make sense of, but that doesn't make it wrong. There are better examples than Craig but that was the first one that came to mind.
- dalmo3 5y agoAt least you don't say it "Creag" as with Air NZ :D
- bener 5y agoMaybe I'll start now!
- iainmerrick 5y agobut that doesn't make it wrong I agree with everything you said except that bit, it’s megawrong
- bener 5y agoYou mean that saying Craig->Creg is wrong? It's always bothered me and it's very jarring, but if you grew up being called Creg, then it wouldn't be wrong. But it sounds so wrong to me. I feel like it doesn't make sense, because then Greg should be spelled Graig, but that's the whole point, language evolves in an inconsistent way, and the only defining point of correct pronunciation is really "how do the majority of people say it", and that is often only a regional thing too. Either way, the assertion that because something is a name it cannot evolve in pronunciation is easily disproved.
- iainmerrick 5y agoI’m mostly being facetious (but only mostly)
- ZeroGravitas 5y agoGin derives from Jenever and Wikipedia suggests the Dutch pronounced it differently. It's mispronounciation all the way down. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenever https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenever
- mypalmike 5y agoThere are only 2 rules for making up arbitrary rules on the internet. 1) The person making up the rule can demand the rule be followed. 2) People will do what they want regardless of the earnestness of the arbitrary internet rule maker.
- thebuzzsaw 5y agoNah. People don't get to change the rules. I can't tell you my name is spelled K-Y-L-E and insist it is pronounced "Mark". GIF is a crappy image format. JIF is peanut butter.
- robbedpeter 5y agoMy name is Blarfengar, spelled S-M-I-T-H.
- throw0101a 5y ago> My name is Blarfengar, spelled S-M-I-T-H. Are you from Wales?
- toyg 5y agoNah, probably from Ireland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVaHvRLlHr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVaHvRLlHr0 "My name contains seven silent letters"...
- bener 5y agoCraig in the USA is "Creg", and in other countries it's "Crayg". Language is constantly evolving.
- iainmerrick 5y agoThat one is extremely weird (and distracting if you happen to be talking about a Craig). I assume they just don’t notice the difference, like with marry/merry/Mary.
- KerrAvon 5y agoWhere in the USA are you hearing “Creg?” I’ve never heard it pronounced that way.
- SamBam 5y ago
- fouc 5y agoHaha, it's totally trolling us. You can tell because of the little icon for the peanut butter
- mdoms 5y agoIs it pronounced "gist" or "jist"? "Gem" or "jem"? "Giraffe" or "jiraffe"?
- tremon 5y agoIs it pronounced "beard" or "heard"? "Tear" or "tear"? "Grieve" or "sieve"? "Lover" or "clover"? "Device" or "crevice"? You're implying that there should be a logical correspondence between how English words sound and how they're spelled. I'm not convinced that is true.
- mdoms 5y agoNo I'm implying the exact opposite.
- sdenton4 5y agoGingko or jingko? Given our jiven? Give or jive? Gill or Jill? Giddy or jiddy? Both patterns exist in the language.
- OldTimeCoffee 5y ago> Give or jive? These are both words pronounced really differently, though. Give is a hard 'g' short 'i', jive is a 'j' and a long 'i'. I'd like to add 'Gaol' or 'Jail'? Debra vs Zebra (These are pronounced differently in the US).
- mdoms 5y ago> Both patterns exist in the language. Yes that is my point.
- Traster 5y agoThat's actually quite funny, I would say gist is pronounced jist but only because it's clearly a play on the word "jist" in the first place. Like a branded version of a generic term - like tumblr where we all know it's actually tumbler rather than tumblr but with a different pronounciation due to copyright.
- varajelle 5y agoI didn't know how to answer this question since I pronunce "gif" and "jif" the same. Of course I pronunce "gif" "gif" that's a tautology.
- pcthrowaway 5y agoIs it smooth or crunchy?
- dalmo3 5y agoGif if crunchy.
- yccs27 5y agoI'd say Sean is pronounced >Shawn<, not >Sean<, so there's that.