The Joel on Software Discussion Group

From SQL for Dummies:

"SQL (pronounced ess-que-ell, not see’qwl) is an industry-standard language..."

I used to pronounce it S-Q-L a very very long time ago.  But now I always pronounce it as "sequel".  This is probably because every developer and lay-person I know says "sequel". 

"In the original SQL standard, ANSI declared that the official pronunciation for SQL is "es queue el".[7] However, many English-speaking database professionals still use the nonstandard pronunciation /ˈsiːkwəl/ (like the word "sequel")."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL#Standardization

How do you say it?  Standard or non-standard?

I guess it's a matter of personal preference.  I say "S-Q-L" --  "Sequel" just sounds stupid to me.  What really bothers me is when I get an e-mail that says "there's something wrong with the sequel server".

LOL

sequel has always sounded silly to me as well.

S-Q-L for the language but sequel-server for the MS db.

both.

I wait for the person I'm talking to to say it, then use whichever pronunciation they did.

If I'm forced to say it without knowing which they use, I pronounce it properly, as S-Q-L.

Michael Stonebraker pronounces it see’qwl -- that's good enough for me...

Tomayto or Tomahto.  Either is fine, any competent person will know what you mean.  Personally I prefer sequel because I'm lazy and it feels easier.

Do people really say "sequel"? LOL.

Maybe it's an Americanism - I never heard anybody say "sequel" before.

The same sort of thing happened when I went to the USA about ten years ago and everybody was talking about "jiff" files.

I finally figured out they meant ".gif" files.

Well Jimmy, the world doesn't revolve around where you live.

Oddly enough...

When referring to just SQL I pronounce it "S-Q-L" but when talking about sql-injection or sql server I pronounce it sequel.

:)

In the 1970s IBM developed a product for internal use called SEQUEL, for Structured English Query Language.  It was overhauled into a completely different language called SQL for their first publicly released relational database, SQL/DS in 1981.  SEQUEL was properly pronounced like the English word "sequel" and SQL is properly pronounced as alphabet soup "S-Q-L."  The sequel of SEQUEL is not "Sequel."

And nor does it revolve around the US of A, however much you think it does...

Ooops, the above was for Anonymous

I was talking to Jimmy, see? It wasn't even an americanization or whatever you call it.

And I don't see the point of discussing this anyway. It's like asking why some people say /deita/ and others /da:ta/

I use both: "Check your ess-queue-ell", "Restart Sequel Server". 

GIF, of course, is said "jiff", as per the original specification and authors; all others are heresy. 

Mind you, I never call PNG "ping", so heh.  Burn me at the stake!

Correct pronunciation is not particularly virtuous in itself, as long as you can make yourself understood.  Really.  However, in some contexts it is used as a class marker.  The OP was wise to ask.

I think my practice is "sequel" in compounds and "ess-cue-ell" by itself.

C.J. Date's collaborator Hugh Darwen on the other hand referred to it as the Askew Wall.

> The same sort of thing happened when I went to the USA about
> ten years ago and everybody was talking about "jiff" files.
> Jimmy Jones


Possibly not the best choice of illustrative examples...

in terms of MySQL, per official documentation (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/what-is-mysql.html), it's pronounced "My Ess Que Ell."

so ever since i read that when i first began learning sql, i pretty much just pronounced it "ess que ell."

I pronounce it sequel, and it really bugs me when i'm reading a text and come across "an sql statment" because to me it should always be "a sql statment"...but maybe it's just me :D

"Squeal"
...for the noise I make when forced to work with it...

Google gives 3.6M hits for "a SQL" and 1.8M for "an SQL", for what that's worth. Which is very little.

"Sequel" for Microsoft SQL Server. "S-Q-L" for everything else.

It's mainly Microsoft lemmings and zombies that pronounce it incorrectly.

In my mind's vocalization, I pronounce it something like "skwull". So, "MySQL" more or less rhymes with "Nyquil".

I don't say it out loud that way of course.

I always say "S-Q-L"


P.s. I hate it when People refer to a certain product simply as "S-Q=L" or "Sequel" .... I usually ask if they mean SQL99  or SQL2006 (They say they don't know those versions, and thought SQL2005 was the latest)

It should be called "Microsoft Access Enterprise Edition"....

I've heard both... same with for gif, I believe (though I mostly hear "jiff").  The one that I heard somewhat recently was someone calling a URL "earl" (which I've always heard pronounced as "U-R-L".  It literally took me more than one meeting to realize what the hell he was talking about (it dragged on that long because it wasn't just me talking directly to him).  Anyway, when I finally realized what was going on a lot of things made more sense :)

What's most interesting to me is the people who insist that one or the other way is "wrong."

I used to say "Sequel" because I like pronounceable acronyms - they make it sound like you're familiar with the thing, rather than just having read it in a book once. But then I looked itup and learned that the official pronunciation is S-Q-L, so now I try to say that.

On other pronounceable acronyms: most people I know pronounce GUI "gooey", but one colleague says "gee-you-eye". To me it makes him sound as though he only just encountered the term for the first time, even though I know that's not the case.

I'd never heard "earl" for "URL" before, although it makes sense and I don't know why it's not more widespread (cf. "cURL", which I think is always "curl").

I usually will say SQL when referring to specific queries, but Sequel if talking about the language.  It's all a matter of context.

On URL: I've heard "earl" and also "yurl" but usually just U-R-L.

Don't even get me started on the different ways to pronounce "pwned."

Someone else above mentioned it, but I'll add mine. 'Round here, in our shop, we all refer to 'em as our SQueaL Swervers.

But how do you pronounce PL/SQL? :)

PLease /no more SQL. :)

Squirrel
Squirrel*Plus
Squirrel Server
mySquirrel
PostgreSquirrel

And I, for one, welcome our new squirrel overlords!

Cheers

Tim...

Tim missed out PL/SQL, which is of course pronounced Plastic Squirrel.

Cheers, APC

I had a co-worker that said orgy whenever talking about org (and wasn't jking around). As in "look at PBS dot orgy" for PBS.org. Always cracked me up.

I asked about this same question over on sqlservercentral.com one time and Joe Celko jumped in and complained at me. That was funny.

"Well Jimmy, the world doesn't revolve around where you live."

Did I say "USA" without waving the right flag? I thought that sort of treatment was reserved for people who draw cartoons of Mohamed.

FWIW, where I live they call the database "essay-koo-ellay" and the image file format is pronounced "heef".

I'm going to defer to wikipedia on this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL

"SQL (Structured Query Language) (pronounced /ɛskjuːˈɛl officially, although the unofficial pronunciation /ˈsiːkwəl/ is often used)"

Also interesting is that the original version of SQL was called "Structured English Query Language (SEQUEL)" but this was changed for trademark reasons.

So both are correct.


The page on "GIF" has a whole section on pronunciation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gif#Pronunciation

Again, both are correct, though the first time I heard "jiff" was in the USA (and I'm not sure I ever heard it in the UK).

Delete the first part of that last one. I shouldn't even reply to posts like that.

The correct answer is "squeal"

I tend to prefer pronounceable abbreviations as well, but I draw the line at "URL" being "earl". Sounds too close to "hurl". And don't even get me started on "gurl". >:E

The point of saying things out loud at all is to communicate, and I'll use whichever the person I talk to use.
On an unrelated note, my old manager says "sprocs", which was a shorthand I had not encountered in school. I was confused, but only for a bit. Thank goodness for the human ability to understand context!

This is a fascinating topic.  I can't think of a more thought provoking discussion about software development than this!  ;-)

"...come across "an sql statment"..."

well "an sql statement" is obviously not correct english, regardless of pronunciation.

>>"well "an sql statement" is obviously not correct english, regardless of pronunciation."

Sure it is.  You use an instead of a whenever the following word begins with a vowel *sound*.  The letter S is pronounced "ess," which is clearly a vowel sound. You would correctly say "an ess" and not "a ess."  As in, "quit being such an ess!" ;)

...

I think it sounds a bit fishy to say "my sequel" or "postgresequel."  Much better sounding would be "My ess queue ell, or Postgr-ess queue ell"

> You use an instead of a whenever the following word begins with a vowel *sound*.

For example: "My kingdom for an 'orse!"

And lets not forget how to pronounce LaTeX ;)

It's "JIF", as documented in a text field embedded in a .gif file from long ago.  Here's a nice collection of info:
http://www.olsenhome.com/gif/

I love the argument about .gif files, that the inventors of the format thought that having invented it they could then dictate an arbitrary and absurd pronunciation that the rest of the world would then adhere to. It's like inventing SQL and saying by the way it's pronounced "Banana".

No way, "mai see qwl" sounds better than "mai ess queue ell"

Isn't it a contraction for It Is Cool:

's kewl

Of course, I dislike the language for various reasons, mostly deriving from it's use being so far off from what it was designed for.

http://www.pseudodictionary.com/geekronym

If the correct pronunciation is to say each letter separately, perhaps we should go New York Times and start writing it S.Q.L.

Who gives a shit? Damn geeks!