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How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444888] Wed, 24 February 2010 12:12 Go to next message
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]

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Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444890 is a reply to message #444888] Wed, 24 February 2010 12:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
cookiemonster
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To be honest I use both and I really don't think it matters.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444893 is a reply to message #444890] Wed, 24 February 2010 12:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Michel Cadot
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The question is NOT if it matters or not: most of the time I use none of them, it is to know which is the proper way.

Regards
Michel
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444907 is a reply to message #444890] Wed, 24 February 2010 12:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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]

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Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444919 is a reply to message #444907] Wed, 24 February 2010 13:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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I don't know the right answer /forum/fa/3314/0/, but all my life I call it "ess cue ell" (so I put my vote for that option). That's what I heard when I first learnt it, that's what I use since.

On the other hand, some people I know (who work for another company) call it "sequel" and I remember I always thought that /forum/fa/450/0/ wow, they *must* know it, they do Oracle all the time. But I can't force myself to pronounce it "sequel", it just doesn't sound good /forum/fa/1599/0/.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444923 is a reply to message #444919] Wed, 24 February 2010 15:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ora_baby
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i agree with Michel Cadot about SEQUEL and SQL.
i, the same way as Littlefoot, call SQL as "ess cue ell"
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444924 is a reply to message #444923] Wed, 24 February 2010 15:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ThomasG
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Well, 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. Razz
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444936 is a reply to message #444888] Wed, 24 February 2010 21:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
hkchital
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"SQL" is "ess cue ell"

SQLPlus" is "sequelplus"


Hemant K Chitale
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #444984 is a reply to message #444924] Thu, 25 February 2010 01:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Frank
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ThomasG wrote on Wed, 24 February 2010 22:49
Well, 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. Razz

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.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445027 is a reply to message #444888] Thu, 25 February 2010 05:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
cookiemonster
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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.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445079 is a reply to message #445027] Thu, 25 February 2010 12:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
John Watson
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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.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445083 is a reply to message #444984] Thu, 25 February 2010 13:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
joy_division
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Frank wrote on Thu, 25 February 2010 02:16
ThomasG wrote on Wed, 24 February 2010 22:49
Well, 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. Razz

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).
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445091 is a reply to message #445083] Thu, 25 February 2010 20:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ramoradba
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http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/answer/How-to-pronounce-SQL

Quote:
"Sequel" is the correct pronunciation for Structured English QUEry Language (SEQUEL).

S.Q.L("ess cue ell") is the correct pronunciation for Structured Query Language.


sriram Smile
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445093 is a reply to message #444888] Thu, 25 February 2010 21:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kevin Meade
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Funny, 25 years ago in college learning about it my text books made an explicit effort to point out that the proper pronunciation for SQL was see,quel.

Kevin
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445302 is a reply to message #445093] Sun, 28 February 2010 06:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
rleishman
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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.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445320 is a reply to message #445302] Sun, 28 February 2010 10:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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As of now, it is 50:50 Smile

Perhaps it has something to do with native tongue; we (in Croatia) don't even have "Q" in our alphabet. Children usually learnt English or German (many of them even Russian). So once computers came into fashion, people (over here) had to figure out how to pronounce all those abbreviations. I've heard several options: it was something like (sorry, I don't really know how to write it) "ess-koo-el" or "ess-kwe-el" or "ess-que-el", but rarely "sequel".
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445322 is a reply to message #444888] Sun, 28 February 2010 11:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
John Watson
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No "Q"! That must make playing Scrabble really difficult. It is bad enough playing in German.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445323 is a reply to message #445322] Sun, 28 February 2010 11:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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No Q. No X. No Y. No W.

But we still have 30 letters Smile
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445399 is a reply to message #444888] Mon, 01 March 2010 09:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pablolee
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I have always pronounced it Sequel.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445505 is a reply to message #445399] Tue, 02 March 2010 04:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tahpush
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Quote:
The proper pronunciation of SQL, and the preferred pronunciation within Oracle Corp, is "sequel" and not "ess cue ell".
Preferred within Oracle Corp perhaps but not the proper one according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL

Quote:
SQL (Structured Query Language) (pronounced /ˌɛs.kjuːˈɛl/ ES-kyoo-EL)
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445581 is a reply to message #445505] Tue, 02 March 2010 14:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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Just today I attended Quest's TOAD v.10 presentation; Mr Martin Ripetti (I *think* that was his name) of Quest spoke about (PL)sequel all the time, and he sounded very British. (I can tell because people in American movies talk differently than those in British ones /forum/fa/1986/0/)
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445593 is a reply to message #444888] Tue, 02 March 2010 15:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
cookiemonster
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Did he sound like Hugh Grant?
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445629 is a reply to message #445593] Wed, 03 March 2010 01:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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No. Worse /forum/fa/1587/0/
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445663 is a reply to message #445629] Wed, 03 March 2010 04:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Frank
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Did he sound like Vyvyan in The Young Ones, or Eddy Hitler in Bottom?
Now THAT's British English...
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445665 is a reply to message #445663] Wed, 03 March 2010 04:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Littlefoot
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I'm sorry, but I don'k know either of them.
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445698 is a reply to message #445665] Wed, 03 March 2010 06:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
John Watson
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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".
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445702 is a reply to message #445698] Wed, 03 March 2010 07:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Frank
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Ever heard of super- and sub-entities? Razz
A Toyota still is a car.

Besides, it was a joke. Ade Edmondson doesn't really use Queen's English in those series..
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #445705 is a reply to message #445698] Wed, 03 March 2010 07:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pablolee
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John Watson wrote on Wed, 03 March 2010 12:59
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".
How very separatist of you John. Also innaccurate. Smile (Think 'Europeans')

[Updated on: Wed, 03 March 2010 07:14]

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Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #446664 is a reply to message #445705] Tue, 09 March 2010 21:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
djmartin
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Actually British is used to refer to people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who are not Irish.

It was a term created in the 17th century under Charles I to describe the people that he was using to colonise Ireland.

David
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #446722 is a reply to message #446664] Wed, 10 March 2010 02:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pablolee
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I know (Being one of them Brits) Smile
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #446729 is a reply to message #446722] Wed, 10 March 2010 03:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Maaher
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My vote goes to "sequel" although I mix the two pronunciations too.

MHE
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #447181 is a reply to message #444888] Fri, 12 March 2010 03:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
delna.sexy
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I read in one of the book that it is called SEQUEL instead of SQL, and from that point of time, I am referring it by SEQUEL.

regards,
Delna
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #447201 is a reply to message #447181] Fri, 12 March 2010 05:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Michel Cadot
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Quote:
I read in one of the book that it is called SEQUEL instead of SQL

Maybe because of this: http://www.orafaq.com/forum/mv/msg/155444/444907/102589/#msg_444907

Regards
Michel
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #448227 is a reply to message #444893] Mon, 22 March 2010 04:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
certificationkey
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i think its create from SYSTEM QUERY LANGUAGE... what you all say?
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #448236 is a reply to message #448227] Mon, 22 March 2010 04:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Michel Cadot
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1/ This is not the question here,
2/ Read the first link I posted.

Regards
Michel
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #453752 is a reply to message #444888] Fri, 30 April 2010 10:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
c_stenersen
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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.
icon6.gif  Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #574980 is a reply to message #453752] Thu, 17 January 2013 05:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ishith
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Sequel is mostly used by trainers or marketing people. Though I use both the words interchangeably, but would prefer S.Q.L .

Regards
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #574989 is a reply to message #574980] Thu, 17 January 2013 07:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Michel Cadot
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Oracle documentation says:

Quote:
The language, Structured English Query Language (SEQUEL) was developed by IBM Corporation, Inc., to use Codd's model. SEQUEL later became SQL (still pronounced "sequel").


References: 10.2 11.2

Regards
Michel
Re: How to pronounce SQL in english? [message #575016 is a reply to message #574989] Thu, 17 January 2013 22:07 Go to previous message
Barbara Boehmer
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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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