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[–] 11 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I always felt like this was a weird argument. Language is always in flux. It's why the definition of "literally" now includes a definition that it's a synonym of "figuratively" since people used it that was so much.

If enough people think gif should be pronounced like "god", then it should. If the "jif" pronunciation has enough people who use it, then that's valid, too. Hell, if a bunch of people started legitimately saying it should be a homonym with the word "plankton," even that'd be valid.

Words are about conveying meaning; the same meaning is intended with both pronunciations, and understood by the people hearing it. There's nothing to argue about.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    the "literally means figuratively now" argument is stupid, saying it in non literal scenarios is used as hyperbole. You would never say "I'm figuratively dying of thirst"

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    I wasn't trying to discredit the validity of its use, I was trying to say that it's valid specifically because it's used. It doesn't matter if you want to say "I'm figuratively dying of thirst." or "I'm literally dying of thirst." since they convey the same meaning, and are interpreted as such by the listener.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    I think most people who argue this either way aren't actually serious about it. You do have solid points, however.

    Regardless, I will continue to argue about this point (opposite of whatever side whoever I'm talking to is taking) until it feels more annoying than fun to me.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    Gif is a proper noun and a computer product. It’s not a simple word like “arse”. This would be like people saying Nike should be pronounced “Nick” and the company “Nike” is yelling “no it’s Nike! Like the god!” And people are just like, “nah I don’t care what you want your company to be called, I’m calling it something else.”

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    There exist countries where Nike rhymes with the name Mike in their language. I'm unwilling to tell people they're not allowed to pronounce it the way their majority does.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    We’ve solidly been talking about English this whole time, since the entire basis for the pronunciation is that it’s a play on an English advertisement “choosy developers choose gif”. I’m not going to argue with other languages. Just like with the dude that is pulling out Ancient Greek, if anyone still speaks that they yeah they can pronounce Nike differently, otherwise it’s a translation to English.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Even English doesn't have one size fits all rules. Language is social and regional. If one English speaking country pronounces zebra as "zee-bra" and another pronounces it as "zeh-bra" they're both right.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    In English the word "Island" has an 's' in it. This was originally done by someone purposely adding the 's' to make the word look more Latin, even though the English word "eiland" has no Latin root.

    So if the original intended usage matters I hope you also correct everyone who uses "island" and tell them "you know it's spelled eiland right?"

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Island isn’t a proper noun, nor a product.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Neither is .gif, it's a file type. Demonstrated by the fact that you haven't capitalized it in any of your posts.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    If enough people pronounce it differently, then it's a valid way to pronounce it.

    It doesn't matter if it's a proper noun, the word is still meant to convey meaning and as long as it effectively does that for the population in general, it's valid.

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