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The difference between "disc" and disk"

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you learn something new everyday
 
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Avalon said:
I always thought it was only a spelling mistake...actually it has some significance:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302152

:mac:
I can honestly say that I did already know this.
It does irk me when I see them being used interchangably, but I figure that most people don't know the difference, and it would be kinda petty of me to point it out.

(but I will always point it out when someone uses that horribly incorrect and totally unacceptable word that people like to think is the plural of virus...hehe :))
 
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D3v1L80Y said:
I can honestly say that I did already know this.
It does irk me when I see them being used interchangably, but I figure that most people don't know the difference, and it would be kinda petty of me to point it out.

(but I will always point it out when someone uses that horribly incorrect and totally unacceptable word that people like to think is the plural of virus...hehe :))

You mean "virii" ? :p
 

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Thanks for that info. I have seen the difference before looking at packaging and such and figured it out, but then later forgot all about it and even spelled it wrong! Not many really even talk about the spelling of Disc or Disk and what it means. Now that I think on it more, even on the front of my CD player it says the right spelling for the optical media.

I see the Virii one all the time. I do it for a joke sometimes but know it's wrong.
 
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Ha, when I was in school my I.T teacher told me there was no difference. ¬_¬
 
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Whne I was in school, there was 1kB and 1KB, 1kB being 1000Bytes and 1KB being 1024Bytes (2^10 Bytes)...

Nowadays the difference is the point of view. From the marketing view, 1GB is 1000MB, though from the IT view 1GB is still 1024MB...That's why the real size of HDs is less than it's advertised for, from IT view (calculating still with 2^10 for 1KB, not with 1000).
 
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lol i would have spelt them correctly given the need to but wouldnt have said there was a difference
 
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i'm going to have to look that one up when i get home, because online it says:
from Houghton Mifflin:
disk also disc (dĭsk)
n.
A thin, flat, circular object or plate.
Something resembling such an object: The moon's disk was reflected in the pond.

The disk used in a disc brake.
A disk used on a disk harrow.
A round, flattened, platelike structure in an animal, such as an intervertebral disk.
Botany. The enlarged area bearing numerous tiny flowers, as in the flower head of composite plants, such as the daisy. Also called discus.
Computer Science.
A magnetic disk, such as a floppy disk or hard disk.
The data stored on such a disk: read the disk that came with the manual.
An optical disk, especially a compact disk. See Usage Note at compact disk.
A phonograph record.
A circular grid in a phototypesetting machine.

and from Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: 1disk
Variant(s): or disc /'disk/
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Latin discus -- more at DISH
1 a : the seemingly flat figure of a celestial body <the solar disk> b archaic : DISCUS
2 : any of various rounded and flattened animal anatomical structures (as an intervertebral disk) -- compare SLIPPED DISK
3 : the central part of the flower head of a typical composite made up of closely packed tubular flowers
4 a : a thin circular object b usually disc : a phonograph record c : a round flat plate coated with a magnetic substance on which data for a computer is stored d usually disc : OPTICAL DISK: as (1) : VIDEODISC (2) : COMPACT DISC
5 usually disc : one of the concave circular steel tools with sharpened edge making up the working part of a disc harrow or plow; also : an implement employing such tools
- disk·like /-"lIk/ adjective
 
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This is what the dictionnary app (the one included with Tiger) says:

disc
noun variant spelling of disk .

disk |disk| (also disc)
noun
1 a flat, thin, round object : heavy metal disks the size of hockey pucks | onion soup ladled over a disk of cheese.
• an information storage device for a computer in the shape of a round flat plate that can be rotated to give access to all parts of the surface. The data may be stored either magnetically (in a magnetic disk) or optically (in an optical disk such as a CD-ROM).
• ( disc) short for compact disc .
• ( disc) dated a phonograph record.
• ( discs) one of the suits in some tarot packs, corresponding to coins in others.
2 a shape or surface that is round and flat in appearance : the smudged yellow disk of the moon. 3 a roundish, flattened part in an animal or plant, in particular
• ( disc or intervertebral disc) a layer of cartilage separating adjacent vertebrae in the spine : he suffered a prolapsed disc.
• Botany (in a composite flowerhead of the daisy family) a close-packed cluster of disk florets in the center, forming the yellow part of the flowerhead. v. [trans.] cultivate (a field) with a disk harrow. DERIVATIVES diskless adjective
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.(originally referring to the seemingly flat round form of the sun or moon): from French disque or Latin discus (see discus ).
USAGE Generally speaking, the U.S. spelling is disk and the British spelling is disc, although there is much overlap and variation between the two. In particular the spelling for senses relating to computers is nearly always disk, as in floppy disk, disk drive, etc., but compact disc, disc brakes, disc camera.

Thesaurus
disc, disk noun 1 the sun was a huge scarlet disc circle, round, saucer, discus, ring, round; coin. 2 computer disks. See disk sense 1 . 3 dated : an old Stones disc record, album, LP, vinyl.disk, disc noun 1 a box of blank disks diskette, floppy disk, floppy; hard disk; zip disk; CD, CD-ROM, DVD. 2 shape it into the form of a disc. See disc sense 1 .

Looks to me as if you can spell it with a c or with a k, it's always right... :cool:
 
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I've noticed the distinction, but I never knew Apple had formalized it.

The dictionary entries seem to be more ambivalent, but generally in agreement with Apple.

I'll be sure to be more careful in the future. None of those "compact disks" or "hard discs."
 
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technologist said:
I've noticed the distinction, but I never knew Apple had formalized it.

The dictionary entries seem to be more ambivalent, but generally in agreement with Apple.

I'll be sure to be more careful in the future. None of those "compact disks" or "hard discs."

not to worry! unless/until it's recognized and in a dictionary, there is no formalization (heck, lets start our own spelling of 'disq'). use 'em interchangeably! :yinyang: as of right now, they mean the same thing. :p
 

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