--- title: Barack Obama Takes a Stand in the GIF Wars description: The Commander-in-Chief weighs in on the great (Internet word pronunciation) question of our time canonical: https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-13T16:55:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:45.623Z og:title: Barack Obama Takes a Stand in the GIF Wars og:description: The Commander-in-Chief weighs in on the great (Internet word pronunciation) question of our time og:url: https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf882ffe411639b9f/69869788169ab05b3b279e67/obama-gif-tumblr.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama, David Karp og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama Takes a Stand in the GIF Wars twitter:description: The Commander-in-Chief weighs in on the great (Internet word pronunciation) question of our time twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf882ffe411639b9f/69869788169ab05b3b279e67/obama-gif-tumblr.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WATCH: Obama Takes a Stand in the Great GIF Wars  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 13, 2014 4:55 PM CUT  President Barack Obama listens to a question during a Tumblr forum moderated by Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, June 10, 2014. President Barack Obama listens to a question during a Tumblr forum moderated by Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, June 10, 2014.Jacquelyn Martin—AP  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 13, 2014 4:55 PM CUT Is it GIF, as in gift? Or is it GIF, as in gerrymandered? That is the question. President Barack Obama declared in a video released by the White House Thursday that he has long pondered the question of how to pronounce the Internet’s most debated word — and he’s come to a decision. In a meeting this week, Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp asked Obama, “Did you see the GIF?” pronouncing it “jif” with the soft G. Technically speaking, this is the proper pronunciation, so decreed by [Steve Wilhite](http://techland.time.com/2013/05/22/how-do-you-pronounce-gif/ "undefined"), who created the GIF—short for Graphics Interchange Format—in 1987. “A GIF,” Obama replies, with the hard g as in gloat. “I’m all on top of it.” “So you’ve made up your mind, it’s a GIF?” Karp asks. “It is. That is my official position. I’ve—I’ve pondered it a long time,” Obama declares. Many in the media were quick to report on Obama’s mispronunciation of the term. But, as a proponent of the living language and non-stick-in-the-mudness in general, this writer, controversially among his colleagues, is fine with the President’s position. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/"},"headline":"WATCH: Obama Takes a Stand in the Great GIF Wars","datePublished":"2014-06-13T16:55:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:45.623Z","description":"The Commander-in-Chief weighs in on the great (Internet word pronunciation) question of our time","url":"https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","Barack Obama","Internet","Tumblr","English"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf882ffe411639b9f/69869788169ab05b3b279e67/obama-gif-tumblr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf882ffe411639b9f/69869788169ab05b3b279e67/obama-gif-tumblr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama, David Karp","caption":"Barack Obama, David Karp","creditText":"Jacquelyn Martin—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2871272/obama-tumblr-gif-wars/","name":"WATCH: Obama Takes a Stand in the Great GIF Wars"}}]}] ```