816
dennis
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
denise
I like to pronounce them like squeal and dunes.
Lol 😄
SQL is pronounced 'Sequel' because it was originaly SEQUEL.
SQL was initially developed at IBM by Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce after learning about the relational model from Edgar F. Codd[12] in the early 1970s.[13] This version, initially called SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language), was designed to manipulate and retrieve data stored in IBM's original quasirelational database management system, System R, which a group at IBM San Jose Research Laboratory had developed during the 1970s.[13]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL
It then later evolved, and changed from being an acronym into an initialism, kind of, sort of, mostly for people who are unaware of the etymology.
'Sequel' is quite literally the tradtional way to pronounce it.
That would explain why it's only American to I've ever heard referred to it like that. Every European developer I've ever heard referred to it as always called it SQL as would I.
Other DNS is definitely Dennis from now on.
I too am going to call DNS 'Dennis' from now on, lol.
Yeah I've had some discussions over time with the whole SQL vs Sequel thing, and what I realized was that...
Well basically, I learned 'Sequel' from a bunch of old timers in the Seattle area.
The kind of people who had been writing COBOL since they got back from Vietnam, people who'd actually worked at IBM, still acted like Microsoft was an 'upstart', people who'd just offhand tell me about the one time they got 'deployed' to Saudi Arabia to flash a compromised BIOS onto hardware destined to be used in Saddam's air defense network, prior to the Gulf War.
So, they actually literally were there back when SEQUEL was invented.
Still gonna call it squirrel though
TIL, thank you. Still not gonna say it like that.
I had a coworker pronounce URL as Earl.
Want some URL Grey tea?
Don't you mean, DEE-niss? 8====D <------ There. It's right there.
Denise - it's French
You say your name right! Now, dee-NICE!
Ay-ay-ron! Is Ay-ay-ron here?
JSON is pronounced Jason
JSON Statham
I say Jay-sahn.
Lots of people do, and it makes no sense.
How do you pronounce "J"?
How do you pronounce "son"?
Now put them together.
SCSI was always skuzzy.
Ah, I see, you're a person of culture and distinguished taste.
I feel like this one is relatively uncontroversial
URL pronounced as "earl" however? I'll spend all of my remaining energy in life ensuring the person saying it is stapled to the bottom of the Mariana trench with rebar
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HTML: hatemail
HTTP: hat-top
MSDN: Mastodon
SSH: shhhhh
PHP: fffffffp
I thought HTML was hate em all.
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How do you pronounce PDF file?
E-p-s-t-e-i-n?
The original product was called SEQUEL. Structured English QUEry Language. They got sued over the name by a company named Sequel, so changed it to SQL but kept calling it sequel, as do we all.
Except me who call it Es-Queue-El as language intended.
/Old mans rant off
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And remember, it's spelled Netscape, but it's pronounced Mozilla.
It’s not sequel. It’s squirrel.
Skill. Then you can reply to any database problems your coworkers bring up with "sounds like a skill issue to me".
Confusing because there is a DB client called SQuirreL.
But also relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1989/
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And if they wanted Qt pronounced any way beside "cutie," they shouldn't have spelled it "cutie."
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this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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