[Ads-l] gig = 'jig'

[Jim Parish]

Somewhat tangentially: in the superhero webcomic "Grrl Power", one of 
the heroes has taken the nom de guerre "Gigawatt", her powers being 
electrical in nature. It has been made clear that she pronounces the 
first "g" as /dZ/. (Most of the rest of the team find this amusing.)

Jim Parish

On 9/8/2018 7:33 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> "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
>>
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org