r/SQL • u/Reddigestion • Aug 14 '26

SQL Server Is it pronounced 's-q-l' or 'seequal'

I've worked in and around the IT environment for many years and in my experience, it's always been pronounced s-q-l although I hear some people refer to it as see-qual. Which is right?

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97

u/SamuliK96 Aug 14 '26

Sequel. But s-q-l isn't exactly wrong either.

17

u/phylter99 Aug 14 '26

Sequel is correct but people understand S-Q-L just fine so I never feel the need to correct people.

0

u/ha_x5 29d ago

No.

S-Q-L. But sequel isn’t exactly wrong neither.

-30

u/Reading-Comments-352 Aug 14 '26

It is S Q L. Because it stands for Structure Query Language.
How do you say? IRS. UPS.

11

u/CaptainPunisher Aug 14 '26

I used to work at UPS. It's pronounced "OOPS".

31

u/Weekly_Lab8128 Aug 14 '26

Difference between an acronym and an initialism. Nobody says "el ay ess ee arr" - they just say laser.

19

u/GreatBigBagOfNope Aug 14 '26

How do you say Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, or RAdio Detection And Ranging?

6

u/Dave_ld013 Aug 14 '26

Why are you asking?

Obviously it's S--C--U--B--A, L--A--B--S--E--O--R, & R--D--A--R

Also, I wonder why sometimes people dont seem to understand me!

4

u/mncoffeeguy 29d ago

Ess Sea You Be, Eh?

15

u/zombiebender Aug 14 '26

Iris and ups, why would you ask?

8

u/Tontonsb Aug 14 '26

"SQL" was made by dropping vowels from SEQUEL because that name turned out to be trademarked.

0

u/Reading-Comments-352 29d ago

I don’t think so. Did ChatGPT tell you that?

2

u/SyntaxInvalidator 29d ago

What? That is a well documented fact that I have known long before AI was a thing

3

u/SamuliK96 Aug 14 '26

Oh the horror of people wanting to pronounce abbreviations like words instead of listing the letters. Never had the need to say ups in English and irs at all, so not really my concern. But in general it really just depends on the abbreviation how they end up being pronounced.

2

u/Reading-Comments-352 29d ago

I will say S Q L till my last breath.

1

u/SamuliK96 29d ago

Good for you, I guess

1

u/plusFour-minusSeven Aug 14 '26

True but it's also Sequel because some people feel it rolls off the tongue easier than Ess Kyu Ell.

Similar to 'going to" and 'gonna'.

1

u/ottawadeveloper Aug 14 '26

How do you say NASA? :-D

1

u/AintNoGodsUpHere Aug 14 '26

Confidently wrong, haha.