| How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444888] |
Wed, 24 February 2010 12:12  |
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Michel Cadot
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| How to pronounce SQL[ 31 votes ] |
| 1. |
"sequel" |
 17 / 55% |
| 2. |
"ess cue ell" |
14 / 45% |
Yesterday SQL FAQ wiki page has been updated by someone.
The change is the following one:
Quote:The proper pronunciation of SQL is "ess cue ell," and not "sequel" as is commonly heard.
Quote:The proper pronunciation of SQL, and the preferred pronunciation within Oracle Corp, is "sequel" and not "ess cue ell".
English native speakers (and other ones), what is your opinion?
Regards
Michel
[Updated on: Wed, 24 February 2010 12:14] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444907 is a reply to message #444890] |
Wed, 24 February 2010 12:59  |
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Michel Cadot
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Maybe the OraFAQ elders remember that SEQUEL was the first "SQL" language in System R and for them saying "ess cue ell" is meaningfull to distinguish SEQUEL from SQL.
And maybe for the youngest ones that do not even hear the name SEQUEL it does not matter.
I just want to keep the wiki reliable.
Regards
Michel
[Updated on: Wed, 24 February 2010 13:58] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444984 is a reply to message #444924] |
Thu, 25 February 2010 01:16 |
Frank
Messages: 7901
Registered: March 2000
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ThomasG wrote on Wed, 24 February 2010 22:49Well, my vote would go for "ess cue ell", Since that is 90% of how I hear it and 100% of how I use it. ( not a native English speaker )
Most of the people I hear using "sequel" are more the marketing types, but that might not be representative.
And, I dunno, pronouncing "PL/SQL" as maybe "Peel-Sequel" would sound too much like a cheap kinky 70s movie. 
From my experience, this is what nailed it.
Looks like a lot of non-native English speakers pronounce it as S.Q.L in their mother-tongue and then "translate" it to Es Que El in English, whereas most native English speakers I know pronounce it as sequel (and, yes Thomas, also as pee-elsequel).
But I'd love to hear the experience from any US/UK/Aus colleague.
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445027 is a reply to message #444888] |
Thu, 25 February 2010 05:21 |
cookiemonster
Messages: 13958
Registered: September 2008
Location: Rainy Manchester
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Most of the people in my shop, in the UK, say sequel, and even PL/sequel.
I really don't think there is a proper way as such.
Or if there is it is "ess cue ell" but most native english speakers are probably just going to gravitate to saying sequel instead cause it's easier on the tongue.
It happens with acronyms all the time if there is a convenient english word that sounds the same.
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445079 is a reply to message #445027] |
Thu, 25 February 2010 12:08 |
John Watson
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Registered: January 2010
Location: Global Village
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You don't get more English than me, and it is Sequel. And when referring to the opposition, Sequel Server. Which brings up a major ambiguity: when Microsoft people say "Sequel", they mean their database; we mean a language.
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445083 is a reply to message #444984] |
Thu, 25 February 2010 13:13 |
joy_division
Messages: 4963
Registered: February 2005
Location: East Coast USA
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Frank wrote on Thu, 25 February 2010 02:16ThomasG wrote on Wed, 24 February 2010 22:49Well, my vote would go for "ess cue ell", Since that is 90% of how I hear it and 100% of how I use it. ( not a native English speaker )
Most of the people I hear using "sequel" are more the marketing types, but that might not be representative.
And, I dunno, pronouncing "PL/SQL" as maybe "Peel-Sequel" would sound too much like a cheap kinky 70s movie.
From my experience, this is what nailed it.
Looks like a lot of non-native English speakers pronounce it as S.Q.L in their mother-tongue and then "translate" it to Es Que El in English, whereas most native English speakers I know pronounce it as sequel (and, yes Thomas, also as pee-elsequel).
But I'd love to hear the experience from any US/UK/Aus colleague.
I'm with Frank, although I intermix "es-cue-el" and "sequel" all the time. That being said, I will always say "p l sequel" and have never said "p l es-cue-el."
US English speaking only (a little Klingon too).
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445302 is a reply to message #445093] |
Sun, 28 February 2010 06:02 |
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Back in the halcyon days of Oracle 5.1b, Oracle included in the RDBMS manuals (the printed version of tahiti.oracle.com) a SQL and SQL*Plus tutorial - something they have since removed.
In the opening chapter, they gave you a "What is SQL" and "What is SQL*Plus", including instructions on how to pronounce it. That manual told us it was pronounced "Sequel Plus". Similarly their other product "Sequel Forms".
My understanding of MS-SQL is that MS prefer "Ess-Que-El", although I have no direct evidence.
From this, I've formed the theory that if your first job was at an Oracle shop, there was probably some grizzled old geezer calling it "Sequel", and that's what you picked up (and much to the disgust of MS acolytes, you call it "Sequel-Server"). Conversely, if your first job was at an MS shop - even if you've worked most of your career with Oracle - you will call it Ess-Que-El.
It's just a theory, but I've found a pretty convincing - if anecdotal - correlation.
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445698 is a reply to message #445665] |
Wed, 03 March 2010 06:59 |
John Watson
Messages: 8960
Registered: January 2010
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Quote:
Now THAT's British English...
there is no such thing as a "British" person. There are English, Welsh, or Scots people (possibly even Northern Irish) but no British. Think how a Bavarian would feel if he were called "German".
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445705 is a reply to message #445698] |
Wed, 03 March 2010 07:13 |
pablolee
Messages: 2882
Registered: May 2007
Location: Scotland
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John Watson wrote on Wed, 03 March 2010 12:59there is no such thing as a "British" person. There are English, Welsh, or Scots people (possibly even Northern Irish) but no British. Think how a Bavarian would feel if he were called "German". How very separatist of you John. Also innaccurate.  (Think 'Europeans')
[Updated on: Wed, 03 March 2010 07:14] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #453752 is a reply to message #444888] |
Fri, 30 April 2010 10:23 |
c_stenersen
Messages: 255
Registered: August 2007
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Well, I mix both as well.. However for some reason it's a lot easier for me to use ess cue ell than pl ess cue ell.. For pl/sql I (almost) always use the sequel variant, even though for SQL I often call it ess cue ell. Probably because I learned PL/SQL after starting work at an international organization (so we speak English all the time), and I learned SQL in (a Norwegian) university.
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| Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #575016 is a reply to message #574989] |
Thu, 17 January 2013 22:07 |
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Barbara Boehmer
Messages: 9100
Registered: November 2002
Location: California, USA
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There are names, intials, and acronyms.
"Structured Query Language" is a name.
"S.Q.L." is a set of initials representing the above name. This is pronounced ess cue ell.
"SQL" is an acronym, which is a word formed from the above initials. This is pronounced sequel.
I tend to use the acronym, rather than the initials.
I tend to pronounce PL/SQL as either pee el sequel or jovially plastic squirrel.
Most people that insist on only using S.Q.L. and not SQL (sequel) do so to differentiate between the original Structured English Query Language and the modern-day Structured Query Language. The rest of us realize that one evolved out of the other and do not consider the distinction important.
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) 1 Vote
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