Is "disk" just a different spelling of "disc" or are they actually different words?

Comments

• Red_October@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disk is for things that are more kiki, but disc, with that rounded off c, is for things that are more bouba.

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  • don@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    IYKYK.

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    • JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect

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  • IntergalacticTurtleFucker@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What about disq?

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    • Phen@lemmy.eco.br ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Round things with antennas

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  • I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    And what is Lemmy?

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• Aggravationstation@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disc is short for discus.

  Disk is short for diskette, the square thing floppy discs were kept in.

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  • Oaksey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Isn’t a diskette just a small version of a disk? Much like kitchenette to kitchen

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    • Aggravationstation@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I don’t think so en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk

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  • lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Get outta here with your actual helpful answer

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  • hardcoreufo@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Thats how I interpret it as well.

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• BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disc and disk are varient spellings of the same word that pre-exist computing. Disc is more common in British English, Disk more common in American English. But yeah since computing came along disk has also been used more for magnetic media (hard disk) while disc has been used more for optical media (compact disc). I wouldn’t be surprised if this only happened because of how the CD was marketed and branded as a “compact disc” as a trademark while hard disks and floppy disks etc were more generic terms.

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  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    In modern parlance, this has been my working understanding too:

    But yeah since computing came along disk has also been used more for magnetic media (hard disk) while disc has been used more for optical media (compact disc).

    Optical:

    • compact disc
    • laser disc

    Magnetic:

    • 3.5" diskette
    • 800GB ard disk drive

    …and just to point out there is some disagreement

    Magneto-Optical , such as Sony MiniDisc, is sometimes referred to Disk and sometimes as a MO Disk.

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  • MisterFrog@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Bloody English spelling… There’s a reason spelling bees don’t exist in some other languages.

    We have a competition for spelling because English spelling is so bad at its job.

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• Fedizen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disc = round

  Disk = rectangular

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  • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is correct in most cases but I don’t think it’s the underlying principle.

    This wiki talks about the etymology, with a lot of examples. Most conform to this rule, but there are exceptions in astrophysics like an accretion disk.

    Even in info tech, “hard disk” doesn’t really conform to this rule. Like is a hard disk a square hard drive or is it the round thing inside? If it’s the square hard drive, that’s not thin enough to be a “disk”. I’d it’s the round thing inside that would be hard disc, but also creates problems for floppy disk because why refer to the housing in one instance but not another.

    Sadly, I think the correct answer is that either refers to a thin flat thing, some spellings are preferred for some uses.

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    • pyre@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      til disk is actually preferred in American English. from your link:

      Usage notes

      In most varieties of English, disk is the preferred spelling for magnetic media (hence floppy disk, hard disk, disk drive), whereas disc is preferred for optical media (hence compact disc, digital versatile disc, optical disc). For all other uses, disk is preferred in American English and acceptable in Canadian English, and disc otherwise.

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    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I can clarify some of the tech stuff.

      A “disk” is a concept. It’s an object which contains data.

      “Hard” disks and “floppy” disks are always referring to the rigidity of the internal storage media. 7", 5.25", and 3.5" floppy disks have the same round magnetic storage material. The only difference with a 3.5" floppy disk is that they put a hard case over the floppy disk.

      CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc are both disks and discs, as their typically handled without a caddy/case. So technically both apply.

      SSDs are still disks, just solid state, rather than floppy/hard spinning magnetic media.

      Technically flash drives are also solid state disks, but we don’t generally conflate the two terms for clarity.

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    • Fedizen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      sir, this is lemmy shitpost. Here’s a citation for thinkin too hard, don’t let it happen again.

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  • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What about hard disk drives. The “disks” inside them are round

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    • Mercuri@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The hard disk is made with discs.

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  • piccolo@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    So… what are mini discs?

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    • Fedizen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Discks

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  • BlackPenguins@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Well…That almost makes it too simple.

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• loganb@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’ve always known disc to refer specifically to optical media.

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• superkret@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  All I know is there’s no such thing as a discette.

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  • sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    umm, are you suggesting that all discs are male???

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    • Glifted@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Discs are asexual. It’s why they can make offspring without a partner.

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  • FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    There is a dicklette or so your wife claims.

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  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Could be because c followed by e is usually pronounced “s” rather than “k”

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• PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s all disk? 🌎👨‍🚀
  Always has been 🌎👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀

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  • PetteriPano@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Always has, always will.

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• MewtwoLikesMemes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  As others have said and how I always see it:

  • Discs are small, circular, flat objects, e.g. the discus;
  • Disks are discs used for computer stuff, e.g. floppy disk(ettes), CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, hard disks, and so forth…

  In other words, all disks are discs, but not all discs are disks.

  Here’s a shitty drawing I made to illustrate:

  Image

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  • blackjam_alex@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    But…

    Image

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    • Oaksey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I was wondering how CD-RW works, if anyone else wants to know:

      electronics.howstuffworks.com/question655.htm. They have a layer that can change between clear and opaque that is changed by having different temperatures applied to it.

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  • EleventhHour@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    upvoted for your spiffy drawing, although i don’t agree with it

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    • MewtwoLikesMemes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Lol, thanks.

      What about my distinction do you disagree with, though?

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  • marcos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You have to put a segment of “disk” outside of the “disc” set on that Venn diagram. You are forgetting about solid state disks.

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    • Johandea@feddit.nu ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      But SSD is solid state drive, not solid state disc/disk

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• Hildegarde@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Its a disk when its magnetic, disc when optical.

  The way to remember it is that its disk because its magnetik.

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  • ulterno@lemmy.kde.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What if it’s optikal?

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    • Leg@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I cannot stress enough how efficiently you ruined my ability to use the memory trick.

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  • bestagon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Is a VHS tape a disk then?

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    • Hildegarde@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      No, that’s a tape. It has to be dis(c/k) shaped to be a disk.

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  • Takumidesh@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Is a plate optical or magnetic?

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    • Hildegarde@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Depends on how you store data on it. If you write with a pen its optical.

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  • piccolo@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Where do magento-optical fit?

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    • dch82@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      disck

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    • StuffYouFear@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      My god I have not laughed that hard in a long time

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  • MadBob@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Including fridge magnets?

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  • ArdMacha@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    No a disc is round

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    • Hildegarde@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      ur a disc

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  • shasta@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    But what if it’s magnetic?

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  • piccolo@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What about solid state?

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• misterwu@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disqueue

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  • Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Diskette

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    • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Petit Disk

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• jac@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A CD is a disk that is disc shaped.

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• RBWells@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I am not sure, but my oldest child was looking at an English brochure for a trip to France and a asked me "what the heck is a dis-coth-a-cue? Discotheque. A Disco, a dance club. And yes disco-tek is spelled Discotheque in English.

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  • Etterra@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Not in America it ain’t. Here it’s spelled “Disco is dead.”

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    • Delphia@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Image

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    • dumbass@leminal.space ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Cool…

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• dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  At its root this was originally a British vs. American English thing. However, the spelling of “disc” with a C has been used specifically as the trade name of various brands including both the throwable and optical media varieties, which have since become genericized trademarks.

  For the optical media side of things, the name was coined by Phillips while they were consorting with Sony to develop the standard and named it the “Compact Disc” to compliment their already existing “Compact Cassette” product. They developed an official logo for the format which spelled it “disc.” That’s been with us ever since.

  As a generalized descriptor of a flat circular object, either “disk” or “disc” is appropriate but which is preferred seems to be largely depending on which continent you’re from. The root of the word is indeed the Greek “discus,” as in the object yeeted across the playing field by Olympic contestants.

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  • tea@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    For the optical media side of things, the name was coined by Phillips while they were consorting with Sony to develop the standard and named it the “Compact Disc” to compliment their already existing “Compact Cassette” product. They developed an official logo for the format which spelled it “disc.” That’s been with us ever since.

    Didn’t LaserDisc predate Compact Discs?

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    • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It did. That may have influenced the naming convention. The LaserDisc was actually originally conceived as the “DiscoVision.” And if that name isn’t a veritable time capsule of its era, I don’t know what is.

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• snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I always thought discs were optical and disks were magnetic

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• RedIce25@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A disk drive reading disc’s would be a disc disk drive

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  • GoosLife@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    And if it reads 70s music records, it could be a disc disk disco drive!

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• altima_neo@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  They’re all the same word at their core, evolving from the older Latin word. The difference just comes in how the words were used to describe either a computer related device, hard disk, floppy disk, or a sound carrying device, disc record, compact disc.

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• lud@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disk

  In most varieties of English, disk is the preferred spelling for magnetic media (hence floppy disk, hard disk, disk drive), whereas disc is preferred for optical media (hence compact disc, digital versatile disc, optical disc). For all other uses, disk is preferred in American English and acceptable in Canadian English, and disc otherwise.

  Less commonly, disc is used for magnetic media (as in floppy disc and discette; similarly, disk is sometimes used for optical media, as in compact disk and optical disk.

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• simplejack@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disck

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• HikingVet@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I haven’t heard USB drives or SSD’s be referred to as disks.

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• prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  In systems we consider discs to be optical devices and sometimes just lump any portable media as a “disc”

  Once it’s on my system and seen as a device is becomes a disk

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• Toes@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’ve been known to use them interchangeably.

  It’s British English (disc) vs American English (disk).

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• t_chalco@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Perhaps it’s just a leftover marketing motif?

  "(The spelling disk and disc are used interchangeably except where trademarks preclude one usage, e.g., the Compact Disc logo. The choice of a particular form is frequently historical, as in IBM’s usage of the disk form beginning in 1956 with the “IBM 350 disk storage unit”.) "

  en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_storage

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• RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’ve always viewed it as the Disk contains the Disc. IOW, the floppy has the magnetic disc in it. The optical disc is the disc without the Disk.

  Probably completely wrong etymologically, but semantically it’s fun.

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• wolfpack86@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disk but with a soft k, like in kif

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• Kolanaki@yiffit.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s the same thing. The difference is origin. Disk is American. Disc is British.

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• intensely_human@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A disk is something that contains information. It stands for Dense Inside Stored Knowledge

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• Maggoty@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Same word. Different dialects.

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• GardenVarietyAnxiety@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disc seems to be anything with a round and flat outer appearance, where disk seems to refer to any other storage media

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• TwigletSparkle@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Everything on the left is a drive, but only half of them are disks:

  Hard Disk Drive USB pen drive Floppy Disk Drive Solid State Drive

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• ArdMacha@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Disk is short for diskette

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