Re: Disk vs Disc (was: WD External Disc Drive)
2009/10/26 Matthew Seaman : > Chris Rees wrote: > >> I have always considered hard disk, floppy diskette, and compact disc >> (and digital versatile disc) to be the terminology; but then again the >> official British spelling is disc, whereas AFAICR the US spelling is >> disk. > > The official British spelling is whichever one of disc or disk takes your > fancy at the time. Very few people actually care one way or the other. > On 26 Oct 2009 20:41, Matthew Seaman wrote: > Chris Rees wrote: > > > > >> I have always considered hard disk, floppy diskette, and compact disc >> >> (and digital versatile disc) to be the terminology; but then again the >> >> official British spelling is disc, whereas AFAICR the US spelling is >> >> disk. > > > > > The official British spelling is whichever one of disc or disk takes your > > fancy at the time. Very few people actually care one way or the other. > > I was just reading what I saw in Wiktionary in the entry for disc: "disk mainly US, or for magnetic media" So disk refers to hard drive and floppy (magnetic), but vinyl (grooves) and CDs / DVDs (optical) are discs. >From the entry for Disk: In International English, disk is the correct spelling for magnetic disks. If the medium is optical, the variant disc is usually preferred, although computing is a peculiar field for the term. For instance hard disk and other disk drives are always thusly spelled, yet so are terms like compact discs. Thus, if referring to a physical drive or older media (3" or 5.25" diskettes) the k is used, but c is used for newer (optical based) media. Depends how authoritative you consider wiktionary, really. Chris -- A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in a mailing list? ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Disk vs Disc (was: WD External Disc Drive)
On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:29 am, Chris Rees wrote: > I have always considered hard disk, floppy diskette, and > compact disc (and digital versatile disc) to be the > terminology; but then again the official British spelling is > disc, whereas AFAICR the US spelling is disk. What organisation defines "official British Spelling". I beleive there is no "official" in this context but perhaps the closest is the Oxford Disctionary. My Concise Oxford Dictionary gives both spellings as alternatives but states that "disk" is the better. My Webster's (American) Dictionary makes no distinction. > > Chris Malcolm ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Disk vs Disc (was: WD External Disc Drive)
Chris Rees wrote: I have always considered hard disk, floppy diskette, and compact disc (and digital versatile disc) to be the terminology; but then again the official British spelling is disc, whereas AFAICR the US spelling is disk. The official British spelling is whichever one of disc or disk takes your fancy at the time. Very few people actually care one way or the other. Cheers Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: Disk vs Disc (was: WD External Disc Drive)
2009/10/26 Bob Johnson : > On 10/26/09, Polytropon wrote: >> On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:07:45 +, Arthur Chance >> wrote: >>> The distinction you make is one >>> I've not come across before, and I've worked with computers for nearly >>> 40 years. >> > > Same here. I've always been told they were completely interchangeable. > > I do recall that when floppy drives appeared for personal computers in > the late '70s and early '80s, there was some argument about the > correct spelling. The claim was that "disc" was correct, and that some > ignorant hobbyist at a new computer company had misspelled it as > "disk" and it stuck. But IBM used the "disk" spelling long before > that, so I don't think that was really what happened. > > Looking in the OED, I find that "disk" was the original spelling, and > in the late 1800s "disc" became popular, then around 1950 "disk" > started regaining popularity, largely in the computer industry. > > > - Bob > > -- > -- Bob Johnson > fbsdli...@gmail.com I have always considered hard disk, floppy diskette, and compact disc (and digital versatile disc) to be the terminology; but then again the official British spelling is disc, whereas AFAICR the US spelling is disk. Chris -- A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in a mailing list? ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Disk vs Disc (was: WD External Disc Drive)
On 10/26/09, Polytropon wrote: > On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:07:45 +, Arthur Chance > wrote: >> The distinction you make is one >> I've not come across before, and I've worked with computers for nearly >> 40 years. > Same here. I've always been told they were completely interchangeable. I do recall that when floppy drives appeared for personal computers in the late '70s and early '80s, there was some argument about the correct spelling. The claim was that "disc" was correct, and that some ignorant hobbyist at a new computer company had misspelled it as "disk" and it stuck. But IBM used the "disk" spelling long before that, so I don't think that was really what happened. Looking in the OED, I find that "disk" was the original spelling, and in the late 1800s "disc" became popular, then around 1950 "disk" started regaining popularity, largely in the computer industry. - Bob -- -- Bob Johnson fbsdli...@gmail.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
