The rise of non-fungible tokens (NFT) into the mainstream has launched a host of important questions. 

How do NFTs impact the intellectual property rights of artists and creators? 

What are their long-term applications for works of art?

What does it mean to actually "own" something?

But there’s perhaps an even bigger question that has yet to be answered: How the hell do you pronounce NFT, anyway?

https://twitter.com/ibogost/status/1370447844033896451?s=19

Indeed, with NFT recent surge in popularity, it was only a matter of time before it entered the realm of GIF pronunciation discourse.

So, we decided to take to Twitter to conduct a highly scientific and rigorous survey to see how exactly folks pronounce it. 

The results were… well, predictable. At the time of writing this, an overwhelming majority of the 840+ respondents said that they pronounce it "en eff tee"— which makes sense. Though "nifty" is a fun alternative, NFT doesn’t lend itself nearly as well to flexible and ambiguous pronunciations as GIF does. 

(I mean, hell. GIF even has an entire section in its Wikipedia page dedicated to its pronunciation.)

BOTTOM LINE: Until we start seeing talking heads and influencers boldly proclaiming otherwise, you should be safe sticking with "en eff tee."

But don't let that discourage you from living your truth. If "nifty" is truly the pronunciation that bursts forth from the wellspring of your soul when you look at NFT, then say nifty! You might end up setting a trend for the rest of us. 

Though you can also truly embrace chaos and pronounce it completely differently:


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