[Ads-l] gig = 'jig'

[Jonathan Lighter]

"The gig is up!" clearly meaning "The jig is up!" is used by Dr. Clayton
Forrester in the 1993 Mystery Science Theater presentation of _Radar Secret
Service_.

JL

On Sun, Oct 2, 2016 at 3:29 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Oct 2, 2016 at 6:33 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The Clinton campaign announces that with the revelation of T---p's 1995
> tax
> > return, "The gig is up."
> >
>
> In a moderately-similar vein, while browsing around the Web, earlier today,
> I came across a page with a title like, "[Some Random Number of] Words That
> You Didn't Know You Were Mispronouncing."
>
> Among them was the semi-word, _gif_ < "graphics interchange format."
> Apparently, its developer, Steve Wilhite, in a fit of pique, has decreed
> that _gif_ be pronounced "jif,"
>
> Wikipedia:
>
> The creators of the format pronounced GIF as "jif" with a soft "G
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G>" /ˈdʒɪf/
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> as in "gin". Steve
> Wilhite <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wilhite> says that the
> intended pronunciation deliberately echoes the American peanut butter
> brand,
>  Jif <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jif_(peanut_butter)>, and CompuServe
> employees would often say "Choosy developers choose GIF," [punning on] this
> brand's television commercials.[8]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-olsen-8>
>
> An alternative pronunciation with a hard "G" (/ˈɡɪf/
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> as in "graphics," for
> which it stands) is in widespread usage.[9]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-BBC20130522-9> The *American
> Heritage Dictionary
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Heritage_Dictionary>*[10]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-10> cites both, acknowledging
> "jif" as the primary pronunciation, while *Cambridge Dictionary of American
> English*[11] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-cambridgedict-11
> >
> offers
> only the hard-"G" pronunciation. *Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriam-Webster%27s_Collegiate_Dictionary>*
> [12] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-12> and the *OED*[13]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-oxforddict-13> cite both
> pronunciations, but place "gif" in the default position ("\ˈgif, ˈjif\").
> The *New Oxford American Dictionary
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Oxford_American_Dictionary>* gave only
> "jif" in its 2nd edition[14]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-14> but updated it to "jif,
> gif" in its 3rd edition.[15]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-15>
>
> The disagreement over the pronunciation led to heated Internet debate. On
> the occasion of receiving a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Webby
> Award <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webby_Award> ceremony, Wilhite
> rejected the alternative pronunciation,[9]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-BBC20130522-9>[16]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-16>[17]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-LAT20131204-17> and his
> speech
> led to 17,000 posts on Twitter <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter> and
> 50 news articles.[18] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-18>
> The White
> House <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House>[9]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-BBC20130522-9> and the TV
> program *Jeopardy! <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy!>*[17]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#cite_note-LAT20131204-17> also waded
> into the debate during 2013.
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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