jago

The contents of the article must be consumed in order to discuss them intelligently, to create an informed opinion, and to pose questions that have positive worth within the conversation that ensues from its having been read and ruminated upon?

Preposterous notion.

I was thinking the same thing. This is a fine example of the exception to the rule that you should not place the horizon in the middle of the frame.

I also have heard Squirrel, the first time I ever heard of SQL. It was in a webinar info session for just a very superficial top-level type of understanding, really intended for nothing more than to acquaint first-tier support staff with technical terms and concepts. “SQL stands for Structured Query Language. For short, we can call it ‘sequel’ or ‘squirrel’.” (Cue stupid clip-art graphic of a buck-toothed smiling squirrel on a tree branch, holding an acorn, because what’s a webinar without insipid mnemonics?) That sort of thing.

I grokked the use of ‘sequel’, because the letter sequence S-Q-L is exactly that word, sans vowels, and even if schwas are substituted for the vowels, the pronunciation doesn’t change much.

But for ‘squirrel’ I had to imagine that they were taking the R from ‘queRy’ and injecting it to make SQL into SQrL for the sake of a cute memory device that would resonate with people who weren’t expected to have any interest or investment deeper than a front-line customer service drone.