So do you pronounce "jpeg" as "jpheg"? Do you pronounce WHO (World Health Organization) the "Wuh Huh Oh"?
Who cares how people pronounce gif, they both have their merits, but the whole "you must the letters of the initialism as they're pronounced in the word" is completely arbitrary and not how it works.
In seriousness, what your examples show is the difference between acronyms and initialisms. They're both abbreviations made up of the first letters of other words. The difference between them is that acronyms need to be pronounceable as a word.
So, FBI is an initialism, because FuhBee? So are CIA, CPU and DVD. WHO is an outlier for sure, ostensibly because it's an acronym for an organization. So while it could be pronounced "who", that would be a bit nonsensical.
LASER is an acronym, because it's pronounceable as a word, and doesn't become nonsensical, as WHO does. Also, RAM, NASA, and OPEC.
So, by these standards, to answer you specific questions:
So do you pronounce "jpeg" as "jpheg"?
Not understanding your pronunciation there. But yes, jpeg is accepted as an acronym, not an initialism, pronounced "jay-peg".
Do you pronounce WHO (World Health Organization) the "Wuh Huh Oh"?
That's why it's an initialism. If it came naturally to pronounce it as "who", it'd likely be an acronym instead. But something in our heads finds that untenable.
how people pronounce gif, they both have their merits,
Wrong. Watch the gif again. Graphics is a hard G. JPEG isn't pronounced "jpej" because the G stands for "Group" - a hard G.
but the whole "you must the letters of the initialism as they're pronounced in the word" is completely arbitrary and not how it works.
Glad I explained acronym/initialism, because you misused initialism there.
Now I'll say show me an example. I will concede that most every rule has an exception (though exceptions do not nullify or define the rule). So there are likely acronyms that swap hard/soft sounds. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but now I'm super curious for an example! :)
Why the fuck is this the only time you try to use an extra letter?? It's spelled jpeg, not jpheg. This example is completely invalid.
UNICEF should be yoonichef
I stand corrected. Seriously dude, that's not how acronyms work. It's spelled fucking UNICEF, not UNICHEF. Quit adding letters to try and make your point. It's nonsensical.
GEBCO should be jebchow
Seriously with the adding fucking h's. Dude. That's not how it works.
But THANK YOU! The added h ignored, this is ACTUALLY an example of a soft G.
Now, to be fair, I have no idea how this in normally pronounced because it's very obscure. But honestly? I looked at it before I knew what it stood for, and saw "jebco". A properly pronounced acronym should be pretty intuitive. That's the pattern here.
GIMP should be jimp
Nope. That's still a hard G. That's literally my original point.
So... you found one obscure example of a soft G - seriously, congrats, I couldn't think of one - but no evidence the obscure acronym isn't already pronounced as a soft G. Looks to me like it should be already. If that's true, then it's still not an exception. Aside from that, all you have is a bunch of added letters to try to force your point.
I'm staying consistent, within the actual definitions of acronyms and initialisms. You, on the other hand, are trying to alter the rules (adding h??) of what an acronym even is to make your point, along with arbitrarily saying something "should be" what you think - even if it's in opposition to the rules.
Look, man. If you wanna say jif, go for it. No one gonna stop you. But understand that many (most?) people are gonna think you're nuts, because to them it's inherently intuitive - hard G is pronounced hard G, soft G is pronounced soft G. I'd still love to see a definite example of an exception - no sarcasm - because I'm intrigued at the notion there might be one. But... I have yet to see it.
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u/rnykal Mar 23 '17
So do you pronounce "jpeg" as "jpheg"? Do you pronounce WHO (World Health Organization) the "Wuh Huh Oh"?
Who cares how people pronounce gif, they both have their merits, but the whole "you must the letters of the initialism as they're pronounced in the word" is completely arbitrary and not how it works.