5 ms·

There is some controversy over how to pronounce SQL with some using S-Q-L and others (like me) pronouncing it like the word "sequel". I believe the latter is t

There is some controversy over how to pronounce SQL with some using S-Q-L and others (like me) pronouncing it like the word "sequel". I believe the latter is the correct name for historical reasons. IBM originally named SQL 'SEQUEL' but were forced to rename it for trademark reasons. So I pronounce SQLite sequelite.

chrismorgan 2y ago
> So I pronounce SQLite sequelite. This is by far the most popular pronunciation I’ve encountered, and I think by far the most practical one too.
- tucnak 2y ago
  Popular in America, but not elsewhere.
  - lucasoshiro 2y ago
    I also never heard it. In Brazil I only have heard SQL pronunced as sequel in NoSQL. SQLite is mostly pronounced S-Q-Light here, with the S and Q in Portuguese (weird, but it happens often)
    - Izkata 2y ago
      In the US, I also say S-Q-Light.
      - quasarj 2y ago
        Weird, I thought this was settled years ago, and it's obviously sequel. I guess we all live in our own echo chambers
    - rphln 2y ago
      > with the S and Q in Portuguese Guilty as charged. Pronouncing letters and numbers in English requires an active mental effort for me, so that happens if I'm not paying attention. I guess it's because they don't really register as another language, even with context. My inner monologue also does letters and numbers in Portuguese, which doesn't help either.
fatboy 2y ago
I remember hearing an interview with Richard Hipp where he said he pronounced it as you do ("rhymes with kryptonite" I think he may have said, or perhaps "like a mineral"). I'd always pronounced it in my head S-Q-L-Lite up until that point, but I much prefer this other way that I'd never considered. It rolls off the tongue easier and adds a bit of fancy.
bun_terminator 2y ago
I have never heard anything else but S-Q-L, in multiple workplaces. What I was new to databases I started with the history lesson, but was quickly corrected to pronounce it S-Q-L. I don't even know anymore, nor does anyone else I think
- akavi 2y ago
  As an alternate datapoint, I've almost solely (by a 90% majority or more) heard "sequel" and "sequelite" (/'siː.kwəl/ and /'siː.kwəˌlaɪt/, respectively) across 12 years and 6 companies (from FAANG to YC startups in SF and NYC)
axus 2y ago
Spite is a legitimate reason to choose a pronunciation.
somat 2y ago
For what it's worth(not much), but if we are doing a survey... (US/western, not coastal) I pronounce it ess que lite. and always letter out SQL. postgresql is the tricky one, naively there is no good way to pronounce it. so when formal I say "postgres Q L" but mostly just call it postgres and because of the previous cases I have started slurring mysql, easily the most pronounceable one into "mys Q L" Microsofts SQL server (which I have never actually used, and almost never talk about) is simply "S Q L server"
- breakingcups 2y ago
  I've never heard anyone not say "sequel server" for Microsoft's SQL Server
conductr 2y ago
Some time around 2008-2012, I think, my habit shifted from saying S Q L to SEQUEL in most cases. Even internal voice, when thinking/reading, still says SEQUAL now. Even things like My S Q L became My SEQUEL. I feel like I made that shift due to how people around me, and how public speakers, were aligning on it too, it felt to me that the nomenclature was unifying a bit as linguistics evolve and change a bit over normal course of time. I remember the shift was not easy and I had to put intention into it and it took a bit of time to make it feel natural. Although, I’ve never thought about this too deeply and as I write it I’m Not sure how others would respond to my memory of it. I’m sure it’s very regional, and now age dependent as I’m sure if I was passed mid career at that time i wouldn’t have budged on my preferred terminology but also there’s many people who maybe are just too young to understand the time and trend that I remember. Or just my own experience and there was nothing really unifying at all.

chrismorgan 2y ago

> So I pronounce SQLite sequelite. This is by far the most popular pronunciation I’ve encountered, and I think by far the most practical one too.

tucnak 2y ago
Popular in America, but not elsewhere.
- lucasoshiro 2y ago
  I also never heard it. In Brazil I only have heard SQL pronunced as sequel in NoSQL. SQLite is mostly pronounced S-Q-Light here, with the S and Q in Portuguese (weird, but it happens often)
  - Izkata 2y ago
    In the US, I also say S-Q-Light.
    - quasarj 2y ago
      Weird, I thought this was settled years ago, and it's obviously sequel. I guess we all live in our own echo chambers
  - rphln 2y ago
    > with the S and Q in Portuguese Guilty as charged. Pronouncing letters and numbers in English requires an active mental effort for me, so that happens if I'm not paying attention. I guess it's because they don't really register as another language, even with context. My inner monologue also does letters and numbers in Portuguese, which doesn't help either.

fatboy 2y ago

I remember hearing an interview with Richard Hipp where he said he pronounced it as you do ("rhymes with kryptonite" I think he may have said, or perhaps "like a mineral"). I'd always pronounced it in my head S-Q-L-Lite up until that point, but I much prefer this other way that I'd never considered. It rolls off the tongue easier and adds a bit of fancy.

bun_terminator 2y ago

I have never heard anything else but S-Q-L, in multiple workplaces. What I was new to databases I started with the history lesson, but was quickly corrected to pronounce it S-Q-L. I don't even know anymore, nor does anyone else I think

akavi 2y ago
As an alternate datapoint, I've almost solely (by a 90% majority or more) heard "sequel" and "sequelite" (/'siː.kwəl/ and /'siː.kwəˌlaɪt/, respectively) across 12 years and 6 companies (from FAANG to YC startups in SF and NYC)

axus 2y ago

Spite is a legitimate reason to choose a pronunciation.

somat 2y ago

For what it's worth(not much), but if we are doing a survey... (US/western, not coastal) I pronounce it ess que lite. and always letter out SQL. postgresql is the tricky one, naively there is no good way to pronounce it. so when formal I say "postgres Q L" but mostly just call it postgres and because of the previous cases I have started slurring mysql, easily the most pronounceable one into "mys Q L" Microsofts SQL server (which I have never actually used, and almost never talk about) is simply "S Q L server"

breakingcups 2y ago
I've never heard anyone not say "sequel server" for Microsoft's SQL Server

conductr 2y ago

Some time around 2008-2012, I think, my habit shifted from saying S Q L to SEQUEL in most cases. Even internal voice, when thinking/reading, still says SEQUAL now. Even things like My S Q L became My SEQUEL. I feel like I made that shift due to how people around me, and how public speakers, were aligning on it too, it felt to me that the nomenclature was unifying a bit as linguistics evolve and change a bit over normal course of time. I remember the shift was not easy and I had to put intention into it and it took a bit of time to make it feel natural. Although, I’ve never thought about this too deeply and as I write it I’m Not sure how others would respond to my memory of it. I’m sure it’s very regional, and now age dependent as I’m sure if I was passed mid career at that time i wouldn’t have budged on my preferred terminology but also there’s many people who maybe are just too young to understand the time and trend that I remember. Or just my own experience and there was nothing really unifying at all.