So, I always made it a point to refer to it as MS-SQL. Spelling it out, in fact. Regardless of what the caller called it, I would not alter what I said. One asked why I was so careful to add “MS”, to which I answered, “well, we support a number of open-source SQL servers as well, including MySQL and PostgreSQL, so calling it ‘SQL Server’ is not nearly descriptive enough to differentiate. And it’s patently unfair of Microsoft to coopt the whole market with a clever name. It’s like you invent a breakfast cereal, and call it ‘Breakfast Cereal’ as though it was the only one worth talking about.” That customer on future calls actually made a point of calling it MS-SQL herself, so I felt somewhat vindicated for my unguarded moment and the poor QA results I got when that call was later reviewed.

I mean, all kinds of database people insist SQL is pronounced “sequel”, but we all know it’s pronounced “squeal” (or “squall”, speaker’s choice). Likewise, Sun marketing always insisted Solaris should be pronounced (per their trademark license agreements) like the movie title, but we all know that it’s a thoroughgoing Unix, and Unices’ names end (trademarks or no) with an “ix” sound. Thus, those of us in the know pronounce it “Solarix”. Apple marketing, similarly, insists their thing is called “Mac OS X”, but we all know, don’t we, that it’s pronounced “maccossix” like the well-behaved Unix we know it to be.

[1] In my BSCS, if you must know.