SQL, gif, e-mail... (was Re: [thechat] who thought *this* was a good idea?)

[Andrew Forsberg]

> >http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-html/1999Oct/0079.html
> >http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-html/1999Oct/0080.html
> >by ryan fischer (thelist subscriber, coiuncidentally)
> >
> >just because some microsoft weenies, er, excuse me, just
> >because some people pronounce it "squeal" or "sequel" does not
> >make it right
>
> Correct! What makes it right is whether or not it is commonly understood.
> Not whether or not it follows someone's preconceived notion of language
> rules.

I do have to take exception to Ryan's idea of what an acronym is and is not,
especially the 'everyone should have learnt this in school' statement. An
acronym is not necessarily pronounced any particular way. It's a capitalized
word made up of letters from an organization, product, technology, or
whatever's name. Check any dictionary or grammar book, and if any say
otherwise I'd love to see the reference. FBI is pronounced letter for letter
(by most people (: ), NASA is pronounced as a word, but they are both
acronyms. Anyway...

Re: sequel -- ugh, I'm with Dean (? I think, I'm not on the machine where I
have this thread stored) -- that was a pre-SQL product. Besides, people who
pronounce it that way look like weenies. And that's coming from someone
who's always *wanted* a pocket protector.

Cheers
Andrew