What’s the big deal: Pronouncing the three letters has become a bit of an internet sensation, however, as most people use a hard-G sound, as in Graphics, Gurgle, or Grass. Steve Wilhite, the guy that came up with the format, however, famously told the New York Times that it should be pronounced with a soft-G, as in Giraffe, Giant, or Geography. “The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations,” Mr. Wilhite told the Times. “They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.” The response: The internet has gone wild over this in the years since, with folks famous and not (Jimmy Fallon, anyone?) weighing in. Our own Editor In Chief, Lance Ulanoff, created a poll on Twitter to see how people pronounce the “word.” Both polls overwhelmingly fall in favor of the hard-G. Where things stand right now: Now peanut butter maker Jif and animated images database Giphy have put together a fun little image that pokes fun at the whole thing. “If you’ve ever called a Gif a “Jif,” the (presumably fake) jar says, “We forgive you.” The bottom line: Does this really matter? Probably not. But the image took the internet by storm, re-igniting the “Gif or Jif” psuedo-controversy. That in itself is indeed a ton of fun.
