By calling it "jif" I think the creator was referencing "jiffy," as in "fast." It's like a video, but it loads in a jiffy. Or: it's a short looping video - it's over in a jiffy then restarts again.

I think people that call it "gif" don't intuitively get this, even at the subconscious level. If they did, I think they'd prefer "jif." It's much more fun IMO. Not to mention that it's less likely to be mistaken for an existing word (gift). So it's both more fun and more practical. What else do we have to do to convince you people :(

[–] ggppjj@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's a reference to Jif peanut butter's ad campaign.

"Choosy moms choose Jif" was used as "Choosy developers choose GIF".