The great GIF pronunciation debate

Of all the issues in file formats, the pronunciation of “GIF” is surely close to the bottom in importance. When an issue is that minor, you can be sure everyone has strong opinions on it and will defend them on the barricades. It’s like the way political movements work: the closer together they are in their beliefs, the more ferociously they’ll vilify each other over little differences.

Personally, I always pronounce it my mind with a hard “G,” as in “give” rather than “giraffe.” I’m glad to see some support for this view in “A Linguist’s Guide to Pronouncing ‘GIF’.” One of its arguments matches the main reason in my mind: the “G” stands for “graphics,” which is pronounced with a hard “G.”

Case closed. Now can we agree that “PNG” is pronounced “Pee-Enn-Gee,” and not “Ping”?