Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Pronunciation of GIF

Pronunciation of GIF

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/June 15, 2022 by Wehwalt (talk) 06:29, 4 May 2022 (UTC)



The pronunciation of GIF has been disputed since the 1990s. GIF, an English acronym for the Graphics Interchange Format, is popularly pronounced as a one-syllable word. The most common pronunciations in English are (with a soft g as in gin) and  (with a hard g as in gift), differing in the phoneme represented by the letter G. Many public figures and institutions have taken sides in the debate; Steve Wilhite, the file format's creator, gave a speech at the 2013 Webby Awards arguing that only the soft g pronunciation is correct. Polls show that the hard g pronunciation is more common, although the frequency of each pronunciation varies by region; in addition, some regions enunciate each letter in GIF, making it. Modern English dictionaries generally accept both main alternatives as valid, and linguistic analyses show no clear advantage for either main pronunciation based on the frequency of the pronunciation in other English words.
 * Most recent similar article(s): The article's nicheness makes it pretty much sui generis, especially among FAs.
 * Main editors: et al.
 * Promoted: 2022 March 31
 * Reasons for nomination: It's a pretty wacky article, honestly- i tried to write it for the people who read it and go "damn, i can't believe someone took the time to write 2,000 carefully-researched words on a topic this stupid". So- I think it'll make a good TFA.
 * Support as nominator. theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/they) 00:42, 1 April 2022 (UTC)
 * If it were promoted earlier we could have make it as today's TFA. Sadly we don't have that time. Oh well. Will Support having it featured at any time. ZKang123 (talk) 01:00, 1 April 2022 (UTC)


 * Comment: This article is under two Wikiprojects: Linguistics and Internet Culture. WP Linguistic's last TFA was Francis Willughby on March 29, 2020 (and there isn't an FA about the pronunciation of a word within its purview) and WP Internet Culture's last TFA was From the Doctor to My Son Thomas on Nov. 7, 2016. Z1720 (talk) 01:22, 1 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Support. Gog the Mild (talk) 21:44, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment: So, this got pulled because someone requested it for June 15, and it was just... never put back here. What do y'all think? theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/they) 03:31, 28 April 2022 (UTC)
 * No comment, biased oppose: No specific reason for this to allocate the TFA to this day. I could support for nonspecific date nomination but it is not worthy to specific on this day. KyleRGiggs (talk) 07:49, 28 April 2022 (UTC)
 * it's the invention date of the GIF, apparently theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/they) 07:55, 28 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I mean, there is nothing related between "GIF" and the "pronounciation of GIF". Maybe a valid reason but not a good reason I thought. That's why I just have a biased opinion. But if it is for 35th anniversary, okay. KyleRGiggs (talk) 17:25, 28 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Support:, I believe the first GIFs were introduced on June 15 1987, so this will be the 35th anniversary. Seems suitable to me. AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 13:20, 28 April 2022 (UTC)