Hacker News Reader

Comment by ksenzee | Hacker News Reader

Can I jump-start your list? "Git" is a product name, not an acronym. It's just spelled Git.

(Please forgive me this act of pedantry, as I forgive those who commit pedantry against me...)

I blame that I've been writing "SQL" all day and have unconsciously associated three letter non English words and "Is acronym". (Although I guess "git" is a word, although not typically part of my colloquial vocabulary... Maybe if I was a curmudgeon ~50 years ago as opposed to being a curmudgeon now)

Regardless, your pedantry is excused :)

> I blame that I've been writing "SQL" all day and have unconsciously associated three letter non English words and "Is acronym".

Hyperpedantically, "SQL" is an initialism, but not an acronym.

TIL what an initialism is and how it differs from an acronym :)

Funnily enough, Chrome is flagging it as a misspelled word, but googling for it brought up its definition in Google's usual definition box.

I'd suggest google dictionary plugin. Double click on anything on the page and you get the definition as a small popup/tool-tip. That's how even I learned what Initialism is.

Try turning on "Ask Google for Suggestions". That should do the trick.

Normal spellcheck is a dictionary. "Ask" is server-side magic that is context-aware and goes beyond dictionaries. After turning it on, try "icland is an icland" to be amused. Or "Brittaney Spears".

I normally don't go on about this, but since this thread is about TILs... :)

Only if you pronounce it "Ess-Kew-Ell" and not "Sequel", though, right?

Hmm, interesting. I think you are right.

(NASA is an acronym. NSA is an initialism.)

Pronouncing SQL as es-kyoo-el is a rookie mistake. Sequel!

There are varied opinions about this topic. Several Sources of Truth and Righteousness advise against "sequel"[1][2], However it seems that in a certain building in WA "sequel" is preferred [3].

[1] https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/what-is-mysql.html

[2] http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/faq/

[3] https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/fd6...

Redmond also colloquially refers to the product Microsoft SQL Server as just SQL (pronounced "sequel"), as in, "We're trying sell more SQL licenses," or, "Is the backing DB for your SAP installation Oracle or SQL?"

This has led to some confusion.

Additionally, as I pointed out in a sibling comment up the chain somewhere, SQL is an abbreviation of the original acronym, SEQUEL, for Structured English QUEry Language. It seems with this provenance that the "sequel" pronunciation is more historically correct.

Thanks, I did not know about the SEQUEL acronym.

For fun, try trolling obnoxious people by pronouncing it like "squeal" :)

Squirrel

Perhaps even more pedantically, SQL is actually an abbreviation of an acronym. It was originally conceived as SEQUEL for Structured English QUEry Language[0], only being abbreviated to SQL for legal purposes (SEQUEL was already trademarked).

For this, and sheer convenience, I take the stance that it should always be pronounced as "sequel" rather than pronouncing each letter.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL#History

I'm forced to disagree with you here. I take the stance that it should always be pronounced as "squirrel", because seriously, who doesn't like squirrels? :)

Tree rats. :-P

So, on top of this, they have since decided SQL is no longer Structured Query Language--it's just SQL.

Who's that? ANSI or ISO or someone else?

I skimmed the Wikipedia article and didn't notice any mention of removing the initialism. I did find a note that the original language standard did define the "es queue el" pronunciation, but since no one is standards compliant anyway, I think I'll still stick with "sequel" (:

I actually can't find a source. My professor told me back in the day, and that's all I have.

The talk page on Wikipedia has a lot of discussion, including a citation of a book, but I don't have the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ASQL#SQL_Acronym

Someone there also keeps saying that the second reference on the article explicitly says it's not an acronym, but the current second source explicitly says it is, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks. That's my TIL for today.

FYI: The difference between an acronym and initialism is that the abbreviation formed with initialisms is not pronounced as a word, rather you say the individual letters, such as FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and DVD (Digital Video Disk*). Edit: Not a criticism, I just I didn't know.

Someone should tell this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EgrY17Ozk

    > Hyperpedantically, "SQL" is an initialism, but not an
    > acronym

I really wish people would stop posting this - I feel like I only ever see it posted here, too.

OED's first entry on "acronym, n":

    > A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for 
    > a name or expression, each letter or part being
    > pronounced separately; an initialism (such as ATM, TLS)

OED's second entry on "acronym, n":

    >  A word formed from the initial letters of other words
    > or (occas.) from the initial parts of syllables taken 
    > from other words, the whole being pronounced as a single
    > word (such as NATO, RADA)

OED's entry on "initialism, n":

    > The use of initials; a significative group of initial
    > letters. Now spec. a group of initial letters used as
    > an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter
    > or part being pronounced separately

SQL is both an acronym and an initialism. The Wikipedia article on "initialism" it is guilty of using very selective quotes in its "citation".

this is awesome. this is why i read the comments before the content. (and I mean this whole thread) thanks

So SQL is an acronym for an acronym?

SQL is an abbreviated acronym.

Maybe he wrote it on his MAC before he uploaded to the WEB site.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com