Okay so is 'SQL' an acronym? :) Also is "TLA" an acronym, or do its initials jus...

run4yourlives · on June 1, 2009

Technically, no. (I've never understood how anyone got sequel from S-Q-L.)

And TLA is more correctly Three Letter Abbreviation. :-)

But like I said, I know there is no hard and fast rule. Acronym has had its meaning changed through popular use, and there isn't much to harp about there. It's as futile as pointing out that "begging the question" is used incorrectly 99% of the time.

For a style guide though, there's nothing wrong with insisting on a particular definition.

davidmathers · on June 1, 2009

I've never understood how anyone got sequel from S-Q-L.

They didn't. They got SQL from SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language). After the name was changed from SEQUEL to SQL people just kept saying "sequel" since it's easier to say than "s-q-l".

run4yourlives · on June 1, 2009

Did not know that. I've been using this thing for close to 15 years and hadn't a clue! :-)

joeyo · on June 1, 2009

  > Technically, no. (I've never understood how anyone got
  > sequel from S-Q-L.)

Sequel is quicker to pronounce than es-cue-ell, so it's very attractive for that reason. For similar reasons, I generally pronounce /etc as 'etsy'.

Semiapies · on June 1, 2009

The first version was called SEQUEL.

andreyf · on June 2, 2009

But like I said...

According to my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Hawks, that is grammatically incorrect. You meant to say "But as I said".