mysql> select user,password,host from user; +------+------------------+-----------+ | user | password         | host      | +------+------------------+-----------+ | root | 773359240eb9a1d9 | localhost | | root |                  | fsailing1 | | root |                  | 127.0.0.1 | | root | 309e1248634a4f61 | %         | +------+------------------+-----------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> password("root"); ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'password("root")' at line 1 mysql> select password("root"); +------------------+ | password("root") | +------------------+ | 67457e226a1a15bd | +------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select password("chen"); +------------------+ | password("chen") | +------------------+ | 309e1248634a4f61 | +------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)