jifanese / dʒɪf vəˈni z / is an ambiguous, animated-image-based, language used by about 100 million daily active users, primarily on the
internet, where it is the third most frequently used language. Commonly known as GIFs.
/ dʒɪfs / or graphical exhange formats.
It is a member of the
1337 (LEET / ELITE)
internet language
family. While it has clear roots as sub-variation of emoji-speak, the relation to other languages, such as abbreviated cyber-slang ( LOL : ROFLCOPTER ), is debated.
Due to wide controversy, the phonetic spelling was updated in
2021 to reflect the proper pronunciation as made clear by GIF creator, Steve Wilhite, via CNN on May 22, 2013.
"They're pronounced like a brand of peanut butter."
Steve Wilhite created the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, while working for Compuserve in 1987. ( CNN )