( CNN ) We ca n't settle iPhone vs. Android or `` Star Wars '' vs. `` Star Trek '' for you . But we can settle another long-running geek debate : . Those short , animated loops that have captivated the Web for decades ? They 're pronounced like a brand of peanut butter . Steve Wilhite created the Graphics Interchange Format , or GIF , while working for Compuserve in 1987 . When he received a Webby Award in 2013 for it , and delivered his five-word acceptance speech ( that 's all the Webbys allow ) , he flashed a GIF on the big screens at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York . And , in a flash , it all became clear : . `` It 's pronounced JIF , not GIF . '' Of course , in the grand tradition of heated debate , a flat statement of fact by the creator was n't enough to sway some partisans . On Twitter , `` GIF '' became a trending topic as some folks pushed back . `` Graphics Interchange Format . Graphics . Not Jraphics . # GIF # hardg , '' wrote Web designer Dan Cederholm . `` So instead of GIF , we 've got to say JIF ? YEAH RIGHT , '' chimed in October Jones , creator of the `` Texts From Dog '' Tumblr and book . `` And I suppose those animals with long necks are called 'JIRAFFES . ' '' And , of course , the peanut butter brand was getting lots of free publicity along the way . The always amusing HAL 9000 account ( yes , somebody tweets as the robot from `` 2001 '' ) posted an `` animated JIF '' -- which is to say , a swirling , animated jar of the tasty , high-protein spread . Animated GIFs were a staple of the early Internet . Remember The Dancing Baby ? That 's a GIF . They fell out of favor as more advanced graphics technology emerged . But in the past couple of years , the Web has remembered how much fun it is to watch ridiculous things happen over and over again . Wilhite has argued for the soft-G pronunciation for years . Yet no less an authority than the White House has posted an image on its Tumblr feed advocating for the hard-G. And the Oxford English Dictionary says both pronunciations are acceptable . So , here 's wishing Mr. Wilhite `` Jood Luck . ''
GIF creator : It 's pronounced `` JIF '' Web created the Graphics Interchange Format in 1987 at Compuserve . He pronounced the issue closed at the Webby Awards in 2013 . And yet , some partisans remain unswayed .