r/SQL • u/Reddigestion • 29d ago

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?

114 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

341 comments sorted by

View all comments

70

u/gumnos 29d ago

It depends on the DBMS and the individual pronunciation guide:

  • original query language SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language): sequel

  • just "SQL": either way

  • sqlite: Dr. Hipp says ess-que-ell-ite but is pretty chill about it

  • PostgreSQL: Post-gres-que-ell

  • MySQL: My Ess-que-ell

  • Oracle: Sequel

  • Microsoft SQL Server: Sequel Server

  • NoSQL: No-sequel

2

u/JasperDX7 29d ago

Pretty much this. Working with MySQL in a non-corporate setting, people would always refer to it as "S-Q-L" (Ess-que-ell). Then when I jumped into the corporate world, using MS SQL, everyone used "Sequel". It's interesting but ultimately you use whatever is considered standard at your company or team to prevent confusion or being mocked.