I heard some people say theyre the same thing, but others are adamant that they have different meanings. Which is it?
Disk is for things that are more kiki, but disc, with that rounded off c, is for things that are more bouba.
IYKYK.
What about disq?
Round things with antennas
What about disckque
that’s the UK version of dick
And what is Lemmy?
Disc is short for discus.
Disk is short for diskette, the square things some discs are kept in.
Isn’t a diskette just a small version of a disk? Much like kitchenette to kitchen
I don’t think so https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk
To quote from your source:
8-inch floppy disk, inserted in drive, (3½-inch floppy diskette, in front, shown for scale)
Get outta here with your actual helpful answer
Thats how I interpret it as well.
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.
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 hard disk drive
…and just to point out there is some disagreement
Magneto-Optical , such as Sony MiniDisc, is sometimes referred to Disc for its optical properties and sometimes as a MO Disk for its magnetic properties.
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.
I’ve always known disc to refer specifically to optical media.
Disq
Disque*
Disque?
Way too cumbersome
Disqueue, then.
Dischqueue
Disc = round
Disk = rectangular
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.
til disk is actually preferred in American English. from your link:
