❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now
Final Note

How to pronounce ‘GIF’

Kai Ryssdal Jun 13, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY
WhiteHouse.gov
Final Note

How to pronounce ‘GIF’

Kai Ryssdal Jun 13, 2014
WhiteHouse.gov
HTML EMBED:
COPY

President Barack Obama, as you might have heard, did a town hall thing on Tumblr this week. In the process he met Tumblr founder David Karp and they, it seems, did a fist-bump of which a gif was created. Except when the president mentioned it, he did so mistakenly. 

Here at Marketplace, we’ve already settled the burning question of how you pronounce these three little letters: G I F.

The guy who invented the graphics interchange format, which lets images on your computer screen move, kind of like animation, got a Webby lifetime achievement award in May of 2013.

Steve Wilhite is his name. He’s had a stroke, so he can’t speak. But you can check out the video of his acceptance presentation last night, in which he laid down the law.

It’s ‘jif,’ people, like the peanut butter.  Speaking of which, even the peanut butter maker got in on the debate.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.