[cr0sh]

As a self-described redneck in Arizona - the latter seems most appropriate.

Why anyone would pronounce it to rhyme with "bagel" makes no sense to me (same as pronouncing "gif" with a soft "G"); IIRC (and I am no linguist), in english there's a rule about how something is pronounced based on surrounding letters - and I think that double consonant vs singular consonant preceded by a vowel is one of those rules.

I'm sure there are exceptions, after all (it's english...) - but I have a feeling that if you looked at such words you would find the general pattern to fit.

Again - I am willing to admit that I really don't know what I am talking about; I'm not a linguist, I'm not an expert in english. I'm just some guy who last studied english in high school years ago...

[ScottBurson]

I feel the same way about "GIF". Alas, the inventor of the GIF format insists on the soft "G" [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#Pronunciation_of_GIF