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Poll: “A SQL query” or “an SQL query?”

2 points by chatmasta ↗ HN
Which is correct? Grammar guides would suggest "an SQL" ("an ess-queue-ell"), but does common pronunciation of the acronym imply "a sequel query" is correct?

Surely this deserves at least as much debate as tabs vs. spaces...

1 comment

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mindcrime
Well... in spoken form, I'd match it to the way SQL is verbalized. But in written form you don't know in advance how the reader will verbalize / subvocalize it. In that case, if I were writing something that included that phrase my vote would be to go with "an SQL query" on the basis that I usually verbalize it as "ess-queue-ell".