• palordrolap@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    All English words that start “gif-” (and for that matter “giv-”) have a hard g.

    While English is well known for a mess of exceptions, GIF has, or had, no precedent for soft G, so you’ll forgive people for thinking that the choice of soft G on GIF is a little unusual and being rubbed the wrong way by it.

    • Draghetta@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      All words that start with “gif” have a hard g because there is only one: gift. If “gift” had a soft g, then all the words that start with “gif-“ would have a soft g. If it only has one case of application it’s an accident, not a rule.

      And again, saying this as somebody who agrees on “gif” having a hard g despite the delirious claims of its inventor.