"Jif" not "Gif"

[Tribunal]

BBC is not an acronym

Sorry, I'll take Merriam Webster over "Thefreedictionary.com"

a word (as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters : initialism

Various guides to style (including the Chicago guide and Lynch's) also point out that the distinction is not necessary and/or requires the acceptance of the recent invention (first use 1890s) of the "Initialism".

-BBC is not a word, but it is an acronym.
-IRA is both an acronym and a word. Many parts of the world (only in reference to the financial rather than terroristic use of the word) use "Ihra" as the pronunciation.

Even your example of radar does not befit ".gif-t" the D, second A, and R all differ from the pronunciation of their accompanying words.

I'll also note that you fail to address the point of differing with the creator of the word. Do you go around telling Hispanics who name their child "Hey-sus" that they are wrong?

[Tinykong]

or, you know, we could call them by individuals letters. like usb and others (cba to think of more). So g.i.f.

Initialisms are pronounced that way: F.B.I., USB, DVI

Acronyms are spoken as a word: gif, NASA, radar

[Tribunal]

I don't say Guh-raphics either. :P

I'm separating it out to stress the pronunciation of the G, but it is a "GUH" sound rather than the softer 'G' of "Gift" as I've seen most who argue against "JIF" use.

[Tinykong]

Sorry, I'll take Merriam Webster over "Thefreedictionary.com"

http://nerdfighters.ning.com/forum/t...-vs-initialism
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com...s-grammar.aspx

[Zindai]

Yes, yes it does.
I work in IT for a few years now, and have never met a person who would say ".jif" instead of ".gif"

That doesn't mean it matters. If you know that jif means gif (or that gif means jif), and you're not confusing it with another word, then there's no harm in people calling it both. That's what I meant by my first post at least.

[Masark]

BBC is not an acronym... It's not a word you can say, you're saying each letter on its own. IRA is not an acronym.

Here's the definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/acronym

A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women's Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.

Here's a clip where someone pronounces WAC before you try to argue it's said DOUBLE-U AY CEE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...gk47gQi8#t=41s

It sounds like "whack"

BBC is not a word. IRA is not a word. IKEA *is* a word, and thus is an acronym.

See the difference? The list on wikipedia (and many other sites, not to rag on wiki) is wrong because they lump acronyms and abbreviations in as one.

It's not an abbreviation either. It's an initialism.

[Bjarne]

GIF stands for graphics interchange format. And graphic is called graphic, not jraphic!

So jif is wrong on so many levels...

From now on my name is Jreg

[Tinykong]

It's not an abbreviation either. It's an initialism.

Initialisms are abbreviations.

[Deleted]

since when are those things acronyms... we only type them as such for ease of use.

[Tinykong]

since when are those things acronyms... we only type them as such for ease of use.

An initialism is an abbreviation that does not create a new word. An acronym is an abbreviation that does create a new word.

[Deleted]

what?... how did it create a word? it's just an abbreviation, i dont get it.

[Deleted]

Sorry, I'll take Merriam Webster over "Thefreedictionary.com"

Various guides to style (including the Chicago guide and Lynch's) also point out that the distinction is not necessary and/or requires the acceptance of the recent invention (first use 1890s) of the "Initialism".

-BBC is not a word, but it is an acronym.
-IRA is both an acronym and a word. Many parts of the world (only in reference to the financial rather than terroristic use of the word) use "Ihra" as the pronunciation.

Merriam Webster is an American company. So are both those guides American. American English tends to drop a lot of rules and conventions in favour of simplification.

Let's have a look at the Oxford English usage shall we since "thefreedictionary" isn't snooty enough for you:

An abbreviation composed of the first letters of other words so that the abbreviation itself forms a word. For example:
CRASSH [which is said "crash" not CEE ARE AY ESS ESS AYTCH]: Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Aids: acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Acronyms are treated just like ordinary words in a sentence, and may be composed of all capital letters, or of an initial capital followed by small letters. For example:
"Of 34 mothers who gave birth to children with Aids at his hospital, only four had any symptoms of the disease."
An abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately is called an initialism. For example:
WHO BBC

It is not who buh buh cuh. It's Double-U Haytch Oh, Bee Bee Cee. You don't just drop it in a sentence like "I'm going to the bubkuh studios tomorrow".

Even your example of radar does not befit ".gif-t" the D, second A, and R all differ from the pronunciation of their accompanying words.

That has nothing to do with anything, and doesn't make it suddenly not an acronym. Besides which you're incorrect. The D, A and R all match the way they are said in the word. It's the vowels AFTER the first letter that makes it sound different in their original words. 'd' by itself makes a "duh" sound. The 'e' in detection turns it into a 'deh' sound. The 'r' at the end of the word 'radar' changes how the 'a' before it sounds. You can't take a letter in isolation and then try to compare it to a letter in a word where the lettes around it mutate the sound. It doesn't work because of the way words work.

I'll also note that you fail to address the point of differing with the creator of the word. Do you go around telling Hispanics who name their child "Hey-sus" that they are wrong?

Again, nothing to do with anything; I'm not arguing the creator is wrong (please, go back and find where I said he is). I am simply stating the FACT that those claiming "gif" is illogical have no basis to do because that is the most logical way to say it.

[Issalice]

Always thought it was pronounced jif! Never heard a soul say gif, though I suppose I do live in England, though I suppose we have always been known for proper pronunciation of English words...

lol love it! I'm english and currently live in the states...I'm tired of the 'why do you pronounce words weird??? didn't you invent the language?'

[Deleted]

Boy I had no idea this was so complicated... why have all these rules is beyond me.

[Tinykong]

what?... how did it create a word? it's just an abbreviation, i dont get it.

Using an easy example:

The abbreviation for North Atlantic Treaty Organization created the word NATO (pronounced nay-toe.)

The abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, is not a word that can be pronounced.

[Deleted]

It's not an abbreviation either. It's an initialism.

The term "abbreviation" is broad. Yes, it's an initialism, but an initialism is a type of abbreviation. Acronyms are very specific abbreviations and need to be taken as a seperate entity. The reason people get confused is because often you will see BBC classed as an acronym in a list because they use acronym and abbreviation interchangeably, which is incorrect.

---------- Post added 2013-05-22 at 08:53 PM ----------

Using an easy example:

The abbreviation for North Atlantic Treaty Organization created the word NATO (pronounced nay-toe.)

The abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, is not a word that can be pronounced.

But Merriam Webster says FBI is pronounced fuhbee?????? :s

[Destruktion]

I've always said gif as in "gift." Verbally, it feels like skimming the syllabic surface of the three words that make up the acronym, and that makes its enunciation comfortable.
"Jiff" just sounds bizarre and unjustified to me. Initialism be damned.

[Tribunal]

But Merriam Webster says FBI is pronounced fuhbee?????? :s

Yeah, no, they don't. You're just being asinine now.

Initialism is a modern subdivision. Great that Oxford recognizes it. But it's still a subdivision, within the umbrella of acronym/abbreviation.

[Tinykong]

Yeah, no, they don't. You're just being asinine now.

Initialism is a modern subdivision. Great that Oxford recognizes it. But it's still a subdivision, within the umbrella of acronym/abbreviation.

To be correct, an initialism can't be an acronym, so they are both under the umbrella of abbreviation.

[Deleted]

Yeah, no, they don't. You're just being asinine now.

Initialism is a modern subdivision. Great that Oxford recognizes it. But it's still a subdivision, within the umbrella of acronym/abbreviation.

Acronym and abbreviation are not interchangeable. Stop doing it.

Also initialism is not modern by any stretch. Infact the term itself has been in use for longer than the term 'acronym' along with the fact that initialism has been practiced for centuries. It just simply wasn't called that then (or at least we don't have any record of it) but you can see examples pretty clearly.



That's not an acronym.