Alas, Now We’ll Never Know How to Pronounce “PDF”

Those that fail to learn from his story, etc.

“John Warnock, Inventor of the PDF, Dies at 82” — The New York Times, August 24, 2023.

Apparently, we didn’t learn anything from the last great debate over the proper pronunciation of a popular technical term, because even though John Warnock, inventor of the PDF, was pretty far up there in years (and had been for some time), no one thought to ask him the Big Question — the one only he could answer — before he passed away.

Has everyone forgotten the fervor with which so many of us joined the Great GIF Disagreement (c. 1987-present)? Some argue that because it stands for “Graphics,” the G in GIF must be hard; others counter that the inventor of the file format himself had (reportedly) preferred the soft G. And although there in fact has never been a satisfactory resolution to the /gif/ v. /jif/ standoff, with the warring factions at loggerheads to this day… still, someone should have had the presence of mind, at some point in the past, say, decade, to ask Mr. Warnock where he stood.

Of course, the question isn’t whether the consonants of “PDF” are to be treated as hard or soft. No one would reasonably suggest that they’re anything but hard. Rather, the question is whether to pronounce the name