*Pray tell, let us set aside the clamorous din of the contemporary digital town square—the internet, as it is modernly styled—and engage in a disquisition upon the proper articulation of that ubiquitous animated brevity: the GIF.
The multitude, with a regrettable lack of historical fidelity, doth argue vehemently for a pronunciation involving a hard ‘G’, basing their assertion upon the nomenclature from whence it springs: Graphics Interchange Format. Such an argument, while perhaps superficially logical to the uninitiated ear, is, alas, founded upon a flawed premise.
One must recall the creator's prerogative. It is not for the subsequent consumer to dictate the sonorous quality of an invention's designation. The very gentleman who brought this format into being, a Mr. Stephen Wilhite, did, in a most unambiguous fashion, declare that the term ought to be enunciated with the soft ‘G’, as in the word jif or giraffe. To contravene the express decree of the inventor is, dare I say, an act of intellectual impiety.
Truly I say to you, do you not apply the standard at which you apply it to terms as NASA? Should not the agency be pronounced NAE-SUH, or should the wishes of the creators hold water? Should not the JPEG be pronounced as JAE-PHEG? Or shall the file be spoken with the 'P' as the original creator deliberately intended?
Do not withstand the greatness of Steve Wilwhite, and his extremely intelligent understanding of what he has beholden amongst the internet to bring animation to a greater understanding that we have bestowed.
Therefore, consciously or not, that of which, whomever, amongst, henceforth, whencesoever, inasmuch, verily, notwithstanding, beguile, whosoever, doth hath, by Lord, you do not word the file name with a hard syllable, and, rather, utmost contrarily, shockingly, thereisnowayivebeenpronouncingthiswrongmywholelifebecauseohmygoodnessthismaybethelongestwordintheenglishalphabetohwaitididnotmeanalphabetimeantdictionarydotdotdotellipsesorwhateverly, pronounce it as the nut butter.*
