What did the creator of the GIF name them? Imagine if a bunch of people read your name wrong, then when you told them how it’s pronounced said that they don’t care, and your mom was wrong to pronounce your name that way.

[–] Voyajer@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

That's what happened to aluminium. Sir Humphrey Davey came up with aluminum in 1812 but his peers decided it wasn't classical sounding enough.

[–] CallumWells@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago

He even called it "Alumium" before that, which I think is even better

[–] IgneoTalus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I refuse to call it anything but Aluminum just for that. I find it insulting to Sir Humphrey Davey that his naming rights were basically stolen by someone completely unrelated.

[–] Risk@feddit.uk 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

Eh, I prefer the descriptivist method of language. It's how language evolves over time.

Comparing it to a personal name is a false equivalence. GIF is an acronym, people could enunciate each letter if they so preferred and it would be more accurate/true to creation than even the creator's opinion of how to pronounce it.

[–] w2tpmf@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's not a false equivalence. He named it after the penun butter brand. It was specifically named to be pronounced a certain way.

[–] Risk@feddit.uk 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Oh, okay. That only combats my point about it being a false equivalence. At the end of the day, it's an acronym.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I just don’t think that usual linguistic rules should apply to a thing that a guy literally invented and named.

The person who invented it gets to name it.

[–] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Except he didn't invent the words used to name what he invented. If he had just named it gif and pronounced it jif and non of those letters stood for anything I would see your point, but he didn't. He named it graphic interchange format, shortened to gif. That said, who gives a shit pronounce it how you want. Language evolves anyways.

[–] hardaysknight@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

JPHEG

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Nobody pronounces it with a hard G because of what the G stands for. Acronyms don't work like that. They do it because a hard G is more common when starting words in English than a soft one.

[–] Risk@feddit.uk -2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Sure, but that doesn't change anything in my mind. Descriptivism FTW!

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You better be consistent, then! Jfeg!

[–] Risk@feddit.uk 2 points 9 months ago

Huh? I don't follow.

[–] Risk@feddit.uk 0 points 9 months ago

Except... all words are invented by someone, sometime.

[–] witheyeandclaw@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I see what you’re saying, and to a point I agree. I see it as people reading it a certain way in their head and becoming attached to how they think it should sound. This happens often because English words especially can have all manner of exceptions to the usual rules of spelling and grammar. There is nothing embarrassing about reading, or at least there shouldn’t be. What I DO find embarrassing is when people find out that they’re pronouncing something differently and flat out disagree with the world about its actual pronounciation.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

What I DO find embarrassing is when people find out that they’re pronouncing something differently and flat out disagree with the world about its actual pronounciation.

Man, you must be embarrassed all the time when you hear British or American people talk.

Somehow the world can survive and we can understand one another with very different pronunciations of words like "Aluminum", but this... THIS WILL NOT STAND!

[–] Risk@feddit.uk -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I mean, it's only embarrassing for them - if they want to be loud, proud, and wrong that's okay.

But at the same time, they may well set the trend for how it's pronounced in the future.

Lord knows, waDer (i.e. water) started somewhere...

Edit: I'm guessing I offended someone by implying that saying 'wadder' is the wrong way to say water, hahaha.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

What did the creator of the GIF name them?

Island was originally spelt without an 's'. It was later added as a stylistic choice and is now the "correct" spelling. Language doesn't give a fuck about original intent. If you want to be originalist about it then you need to hie back to corky English

[–] Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz 4 points 9 months ago

Oh, you’ve done it now, a-a-ron

[–] agitatedpotato@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

How a computer scientist thinks words should be pronounced is not as convincing an argument as so many here seem to think.