I heard some people say theyre the same thing, but others are adamant that they have different meanings. Which is it?
Disc is short for discus.
Disk is short for diskette, the square thing floppy discs were kept in.
Is "disk" just a different spelling of "disc" or are they actually different words?
Submitted 3 months ago by renzev@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a587ce16-8912-4a8d-8a35-e70e14934636.png
Comments
Aggravationstation@feddit.uk 3 months ago
Oaksey@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Isn’t a diskette just a small version of a disk? Much like kitchenette to kitchen
Aggravationstation@feddit.uk 3 months ago
I don’t think so en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk
lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
Get outta here with your actual helpful answer
hardcoreufo@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Thats how I interpret it as well.
BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 3 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.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 3 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.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 3 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.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disc = round
Disk = rectangular
fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc 3 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.
pyre@lemmy.world 3 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.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 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.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 3 months ago
sir, this is lemmy shitpost. Here’s a citation for thinkin too hard, don’t let it happen again.
MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
What about hard disk drives. The “disks” inside them are round
Mercuri@lemmy.world 3 months ago
The hard disk is made with discs.
piccolo@ani.social 3 months ago
So… what are mini discs?
Fedizen@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Discks
BlackPenguins@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Well…That almost makes it too simple.
loganb@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’ve always known disc to refer specifically to optical media.
superkret@feddit.org 3 months ago
All I know is there’s no such thing as a discette.
sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
umm, are you suggesting that all discs are male???
Glifted@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Discs are asexual. It’s why they can make offspring without a partner.
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 months ago
There is a dicklette or so your wife claims.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Could be because c followed by e is usually pronounced “s” rather than “k”
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
It’s all disk? 🌎👨🚀
Always has been 🌎👨🚀🔫👨🚀PetteriPano@lemmy.world 3 months ago
MewtwoLikesMemes@lemmy.world 3 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:
blackjam_alex@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Oaksey@lemmy.world 3 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.
EleventhHour@lemmy.world 3 months ago
upvoted for your spiffy drawing, although i don’t agree with it
MewtwoLikesMemes@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Lol, thanks.
What about my distinction do you disagree with, though?
marcos@lemmy.world 3 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.
Johandea@feddit.nu 3 months ago
But SSD is solid state drive, not solid state disc/disk
Hildegarde@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Its a disk when its magnetic, disc when optical.
The way to remember it is that its disk because its magnetik.
ulterno@lemmy.kde.social 3 months ago
What if it’s optikal?
Leg@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I cannot stress enough how efficiently you ruined my ability to use the memory trick.
bestagon@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Is a VHS tape a disk then?
Hildegarde@lemmy.world 3 months ago
No, that’s a tape. It has to be dis(c/k) shaped to be a disk.
Takumidesh@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Is a plate optical or magnetic?
Hildegarde@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Depends on how you store data on it. If you write with a pen its optical.
piccolo@ani.social 3 months ago
Where do magento-optical fit?
StuffYouFear@lemmy.world 3 months ago
My god I have not laughed that hard in a long time
MadBob@feddit.nl 3 months ago
Including fridge magnets?
ArdMacha@lemmy.world 3 months ago
No a disc is round
Hildegarde@lemmy.world 3 months ago
ur a disc
shasta@lemm.ee 3 months ago
But what if it’s magnetic?
piccolo@ani.social 3 months ago
What about solid state?
misterwu@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disqueue
jac@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
A CD is a disk that is disc shaped.
RBWells@lemmy.world 3 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.
Etterra@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Not in America it ain’t. Here it’s spelled “Disco is dead.”
Delphia@lemmy.world 3 months ago
dumbass@leminal.space 3 months ago
Cool…
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 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.
tea@lemmy.today 3 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?
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 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.
snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I always thought discs were optical and disks were magnetic
RedIce25@lemmy.world 3 months ago
A disk drive reading disc’s would be a disc disk drive
GoosLife@lemmy.world 3 months ago
And if it reads 70s music records, it could be a disc disk disco drive!
altima_neo@lemmy.zip 3 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.
lud@lemm.ee 3 months ago
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.
simplejack@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disck
HikingVet@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
I haven’t heard USB drives or SSD’s be referred to as disks.
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 3 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
diskToes@ani.social 3 months ago
I’ve been known to use them interchangeably.
It’s British English (disc) vs American English (disk).
t_chalco@lemmy.world 3 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”.) "
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 3 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.
wolfpack86@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disk but with a soft k, like in kif
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 3 months ago
It’s the same thing. The difference is origin. Disk is American. Disc is British.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 3 months ago
A disk is something that contains information. It stands for Dense Inside Stored Knowledge
Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Same word. Different dialects.
GardenVarietyAnxiety@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disc seems to be anything with a round and flat outer appearance, where disk seems to refer to any other storage media
TwigletSparkle@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 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
ArdMacha@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disk is short for diskette
Red_October@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Disk is for things that are more kiki, but disc, with that rounded off c, is for things that are more bouba.
don@lemm.ee 3 months ago
IYKYK.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 3 months ago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect
IntergalacticTurtleFucker@lemmy.world 3 months ago
What about disq?
Phen@lemmy.eco.br 3 months ago
Round things with antennas
I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world 3 months ago
And what is Lemmy?