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Eddie Awad’s Blog
News, views, tips and tricks on Oracle and other fun stuff
This post has no real value except to satisfy a curiosity I have had since I started developing Oracle applications. Through out my career as an Oracle developer, almost every time I meet or listen to someone I hear different pronunciation for a few common acronyms and datatypes. For example:
... Continue reading »
3 years ago
Can't say I've heard people say see-lob or bee-lob before. Just clobs and blobs. We obvious travel in different circles :)
SQL: I hear this alot when speaking to people from the USA . Most european people I deal with say S-Q-L. Not sure if that indicates a trend, or my limited exposure.
Linux: I call it Lie-nux because I prefer the sound. I know it's wrong but I think Lyn-ux sounds cheap and kinda-wrong. Just my preference.
I guess you just have to pick the one you like and keep an eye open for people who look confused :)
Cheers
Tim...
3 years ago
Hi,
that's funny!
as Tim said in european space -> german speaking area we have following phrasing rules :
<ul>
<li>SQL -> 'S - Q - L'</li>
<li>CLOB -> 'SEELOB'</li>
<li>BLOB -> 'BEELOB'</li>
<li>CHAR -> not 'CEEHAR' but 'CHAR' :-)</li>
</ul>
Regards
Karl
3 years ago
Hmm, I tend to use "sequel" but "pee-ell-ess-kew-ell". At least I omit the slash.
As for BPEL, a lot of people say "bepple". I asked an Oracle employee, and he said the preferred pronunciation rhymed with nipple (but that may just have been him).
The Yanks seem to prefer pronouncing the abbreviations following the root word ("VAR-CAR") whereas Brtits tend to go for the word it makes ("VAR-CHAR"). Makes me wonder whether the Americans have "lybe" and "byne" directories in their Unix systems.
Speaking of which, how many people have a "slash etcetera" directory rather than a "slash ee tee see"?
3 years ago
I've heard "sequel" used most often in my travels with the exceiption of SQL*net. For some reason, everybody I run into that uses that pronounces it "squeal net", which always reminds me of livestock for some reason.
3 years ago
"Squeal Net", "Var Car" and "Bee-Lob" - that is just weird, I have never heard those before. I wouldn't know what you were talking about. I suppose "Car" makes sense since that's how we pronounce "character", but it just never occurred to me before.
I tend to say S-Q-L but Pee-ell-sequel. I knew someone once who tried to get everybody to call it "Squirrel", though sadly it didn't catch on.
Lie-nux used to sound better to me (we say "you-nix" not "unnix" after all), but I've switched to Linnux now.
I read that "vi" (the text editor) is supposedly pronounced "vee eye", which again is weird because I've never heard anybody call it that and I've been using it 15 years.
Similarly, ".wav" files are supposed to be pronounced ".wave", though to my knowledge nobody ever has.
3 years ago
Will,
I remember the same guy (Chris) calling it squirrel and have on occasion used it when I'm feeling particuarly playful. But on the whole sequel and pee-ell-sequel seems to rule the roost.
Now Lie-nux or linnux is a debatable one. Whichever one I use seems to get a giggle from the people I'm talking to - just can't seem to get it right.
Don't think I'll ever get around to calling 'char' by the more logical 'car' but I won't lose any sleep over it.
Graham
3 years ago
For me it's:
SQL = Sequel
CHAR = char as in charcoal
BLOB = blob
CLOB = klob
The first line of your post suggested that you thought there would be no real value to this discussion, however, the entertainment value it has presented has been wonderful!
My colleagues are wondering what on earth I am up to as I snigger at the comments relating to squirrels, nipples and livestock, and then giggle, pull funny faces and make strange sounds whilst trying to work out some of the alternative pronunciations.
Classic!
Sorry if this wasn't meant to be funny, but it's been a really tough day today.
Lisa.
3 years ago
I knew someone once who tried to get everybody to call it "Squirrel", though sadly it didn't catch on.
I once worked along a contractor who always pronounced PL/SQL as "plastic squirrel".
3 years ago
For varchar2, I pronounce it as:
var car 2
However, when saying the word "character", the char portion is pronounced "care", so I hear this too:
var care 2
3 years ago
I'm with William on almost every point.
I spell it out S-Q-L. You know, it used to be ESQL (English Structured Query Language), , and it was still called "ES"-Q-L, although some people called it "esquill"
But, like William, I say "P-L-Sequel"
I pronounce it Linnux because otherwise the Linux nerds thrash me with their pocket protectors and other nerdly items.
The one point where I disagree is on vi. I have never met anyone who doesn't pronounce it "vee-eye" (ie: spell it out). Until now, that is. I didn't even realise there was a debate on this.
3 years ago
At Oracle OpenWorld I heard BPEL mostly being pronounced as "bippel", not like "bee-pl". Oracle people said they didn't want to get known as the "bee-pl people".
3 years ago
SQL squeal
PL/SQL peel squeal
CHAR care
BLOB blob (used as a word before the acronym was invented)
CLOB see lob
Linus lee noose (approximates the way Linus pronounces it)
Linux lee nukes
3 years ago
From wikipedia:
"ANSI has declared that the official pronunciation for SQL is /É›s kjuË É›l/, although many English-speaking database professionals still pronounce it as sequel."
3 years ago
> The one point where I disagree is on vi. I have never met anyone who doesn't pronounce it "vee-eye" (ie: spell it out). Until now, that is. I didn't even realise there was a debate on this.
Really? Wow. Do you say "dot wave"? Or for that matter, "ay doubleyou kay" and "gee ar ee pee"?
I am genuinely amazed that anyone can look at the word "BLOB" and not just pronounce it "Blob". I mean, why wouldn't you?
btw, I give up. What are WSDL and BPEL?
3 years ago
William,
For me, "BLOB" is not a "word", it is an acronym for "Binary Large OBject".
So the question is, is an acronym a word which may be a noun, a verb, an adverb, an adjective...?
I have noticed that whenever, someone tries to pronounce an acronym, that's when the fun begins :)
WSDL = Web Services Description Language
BPEL = Business Process Execution Language
3 years ago
Care and Vare-care for me because it is short for Character and Variable Character. And my boyfriend says Vie for Vi. BLOB, CLOB, SQL, and WSDL are just fun to pronounce as a word. :)
3 years ago
is an acronym a word which may be a noun, a verb, an adverb, an adjective…?
An acronym is a abbreviation that may be pronounced as a word. So SQL pronounced as "sequel" is an acronym whereas SQL pronounced as "ess kew ell" is merely an abbreviation. What this means is that TLA is not itself an acronym.
3 years ago
Don't change the subject. This is about people pronouncing "VARCHAR" to sound like "Care Bear" ;-)
Does anyone have a funky way of pronouncing "HTMLDB"? Nothing would surprise me now.
3 years ago
I have never heard anyone pronounce 'vi' as anything but 'vee eye', and this after many, many years in the industry and interaction with all levels of UNIX and database engineers.
How do you pronounce it? "vie"?
3 years ago
Hmm, a quick poll around the office confirmed that everyone called it "viye" (like "eye"), except one suggestion I won't repeat here (I guess he's not a fan), although one or two said they had heard of the "vee-eye" version. We're in London - I wonder if "vee-eye" is more common in the US?
Eddie, any chance of some more polls? I see Seequel is ahead of S-Q-L. I suspect Blob and Clob will beat Bee-lob and See-lob by a mile. If Americans say "vee-eye", then our British "viye" may lose, which would be a shame as I'm sure Shakespeare used "viye".
Great thread btw :)
3 years ago
And : SCSI
How do you pronounce this word ?
3 years ago
SCSI = Scuzzy
3 years ago
I first came across BLOB in about 1968 - at that time LOB and CLOB didn't seem to exist. As BLOB's were to be handled without reference to any internal structure, they were seen as amorphous entities like a blob of cream. No question about how to pronounce it.
3 years ago
The Preface to the SQLPlus User's Guide and Reference begins with"The SQLPlus (pronounced "sequel plus")...". This pronounciation guide seems to have been introduced in SQLPlus 3.0 (which accompanied Oracle 6.0). It doesn't appear to be in either the SQLPlus 2.0 User's Guide or the Reference Guide.
3 years ago
Sql = squirrel
Oracle = 'orrible
I probably require professional help
3 years ago
Just found a link to this on Orablogs, and thought I'd add my two cents worth as well.
I have always heard the terms (and myself pronounced them) as :
SQL - see-quel
PL/SQL - pee ell see-quel
CLOB - see-lob
BLOB - bee-lob
CHAR - car
The last one, mostly because dictionary.com says so:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=character
Sounds more like "car" than "care" to me.
I tried to post the entry itself, but the really important characters went missing ;-D.
Bill S.
3 years ago
But what does dictionary.com say about char?
char
<programming> /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ character.
Especially used by {C} programmers, as "char" is {C}'s
typename for character data.
3 years ago
I have actually heard two different ways of pronouncing BPEL: 'bE-p&l (rhyming with 'people') and 'be-p&l (like 'pebble' with the 'P' and 'B's changing places). I think it might one of those trans-atlantic differences.
--
Aleksander
3 years ago
Here in Iran everybody pronounce them as:
SQL: see-quel
char: car
clob: see-lob (personaly I used to say klob a long time ago)
blob: bee-lob
WSDL: W-S-D-L
BPEL: Beepel
3 years ago
When I learned SQL in 1986, it was pronounced "S-Q-L".
CHAR was pronounced "char" as in charcoal.
3 years ago
This is as irrelevant as anything else I write, but my experience has been that people who became exposed to it through Oracle pronouce it "see-quel", while those who were exposed to it through Microsoft or IBM pronouce it "S-Q-L".
3 years ago
See-quel pisses me off, so I've decided to pick another arbitrary pronounciation and call it squeal when someone says see-quel.
3 years ago
Although not particularly popular, I've also heard SQL pronouned squeal....I find that variation particularly annoying.
3 years ago
My experience here in Australia:
SQL - Sometimes S-Q-L and sometimes Sequel. I myself prefer the spelled out version.
Char - ALWAYS "Char". I've never dreamed somebody would pronounce it as "Car".
Blob, Clob - Always pronounced as they are written.
VI: ALWAYS "Vee-eye", I have never heard "Vie", at least not since my first UNIX experience in 1993.
Vie. That's just crazy :-)
3 years ago
Interesting to see a Vee-Eyer outside the US. I wonder if anyone here in the UK says "Vee-Eye". It's not like the "I" stands for anything.
3 years ago
I think this is a good compromise solution to at least one of these questions.
3 years ago
I actually go with Char as 'care' is in char-acter...
amazingly enough, however, I still pronounce varchar as varcar (easier than varcare I suppose...sounds like an health insurance company)
3 years ago
Obviously there are people in the world that are sad enough to think that this actually matters.
3 years ago
As most of the people say in Brazil:
SQL - esse-kay-elee (spelled out in portuguese)
PL/SQL - Pay-elee esse-kay-elee
CHAR - Always char.
BLOB, CLOB - As written
VI - vay-ee (spelled out in portuguese)
WSDL - dablio-esse-day-elee
Linux - Lee nukes
The consonants p (pay), d (day), q (kay), v (vay) are really short.
3 years ago
I other words,
WC=wait cry....
SQL=sun quack loud
3 years ago
Let's see, when I was in Berkeley in the early 80s, VI was pronounced both
ways, except by emacs fans who said "vile".
People who say sequel were exposed to it (or influenced people
who were) through System R, before DB2 was released in 1985.
Those who came later are more likely to use letters. "Squirrel"
is amusing if one realizes both what SQL is to Codd's relational
calculus, and the way Scientology considers 'squirrel technology'
an adulterated and unauthorized version of the truth as revealed
by the founder. (http://www.xenu.net)</p>
char as car comes from literalists and ex-LISPers.
char as in charcoal seems about equally prevalent
and more likely in use by those who like alliteration
and the perceived symmetry of pronouncing all
the letters in 'char star'. I'd guess those with roots
in consonent happy languages prefer the harder
flavor.
BLOB is an abortion of retronyming. The inventor
meant the plain word 'blobl', see
http://www.cvalde.net/misc/blob_true_history.htm
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLOB.</p>
I don't much like 'klob", and use cee-lob,
which I think goes back to hard consonant
preference.
BPEL rhymes with nipple. Anyone who says otherwise is a prude.
-dB
2 years ago
Well, I guess it could be worse...
We could call VI... 'Six'
:-p
2 years ago
BPEL = bee-pull (like people)
That's how we pronounce it at Active Endpoints. IBM and SAP evidently agree, because they created a human interaction spec for BPEL called BPEL4People. You wouldn't pronounce this bipple4pipple, would you? ;)
2 years ago
SQL: sequel for me. When I read my first SQL book, 1998, the first paragraph stated that it was pronounced "sequel". Spelling out the letters takes too long for me...and seems too nerdy.
I've long wondered about char and car...I consider car correct, because it is the beginning of the pronounciation for the entire word - character. However, I now realize that I don't apply the same thing to the var - I don't pronounce it with the vare from variable. Char just sounds wrong to me...like I'm going to eat it. :)
2 years ago
How about DATABASE??
Is that day-ter-base or dar-ter-base????
(Runs and hides before the flamewars start!!!)