Question for the Ages: "Disk" or "Disc" for cds and dvds?

Question

Periodically, I do a pawn shop "sweep" to see if I can find any bargains in used dvds.

Yesterday, I scored some nice ones, but noticed, again, the spelling discrepancy. Sometimes I see "disc" printed on the packaging and sometimes "disk".

Which is your choice? Is there a difference in when you use each spelling?

(Note: Don't automatically turn your nose down at the idea of buying cd/dvds at pawn shops. Reputable ones will NOT buy ones that are even questionable and, sometimes you can get some nice deals, as I did yesterday)

Thanks!

You may have to read the more fine print, but I do see "disk" alot.

Whoops, it would be turning your nose "up" not down. Sorry!

Answer 1

“Compact disc” is spelled with a “C” because that’s how its inventors decided it should be rendered; but a computer hard disk is spelled with a “K” In modern technological contexts, “disks” usually reproduce data magnetically, while “discs” (CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.) reproduce it “optically,” with lasers.

Answer 2

Interesting question, when I think of the word Disk I have a tendency to think more along the lines of a Floppy disk.
When I see the word spelled Disc I think of a DVD disc. I don't know if there is a difference or not.
I love going to pawn shops to see what they have and get a good deal.

Answer 3

The two spellings of the word disc or disk are partly due to the way in which the words originated. The earlier word is disk, which came into the English language in the middle of the 17th century, and (probably following pre-existing words such as risk) it was spelled with a k. The spelling disc was introduced in the 18th century, following an increasing tendency to base the spelling of words on their roots: in this case the Latin word discus and the Greek word δισκος (note that kappa in Greek is usually transliterated by c rather than k). In the 19th century, disc became the conventional spelling for audio recordings made on a flat plate, such as the gramophone record; this usage gave rise to the modern term disc jockey[1]. Early BBC technicians differentiated between disks (in-house transcription records) and discs (the colloquial term for commercial gramophone records, or what the BBC dubbed CGRs).

By the 20th century, the c-spelling was more popular in British English, while the k-spelling was preferred in American English. In the 1950s, when the American company IBM pioneered the first hard disk drive storage devices, the k-spelling was used. However, some latter-day storage device manufacturers prefer the c-spelling. In 1979 the Dutch company Philips, along with Sony, developed the compact disc medium; here, the c-spelling was chosen, possibly because of the predominating British spelling, or because the compact disc was seen as a successor to the analogue disc record. One explanation is the fact that the spelling disc is acceptable to the French, just as Philips introduced the compact audio cassette in the 1960s under a French name, too. Most people in the U.S.A. currently spell disk with a k.

Whatever their heritage, in computer jargon today it is common for the k-spelling to refer mainly to magnetic storage devices (particularly in British English, where the term disk is sometimes regarded as an abbreviation for diskette (a much later word), or is taken to refer to an object constructed from discs rather than a disc itself). The c-spelling is then used for optical media such as the compact disc and similar technologies (Apple Inc. considers this official[2]). Even in the computing field, however, the terms are used inconsistently; software documentation often using one or the other spelling exclusively.

Beyond the realm of technical terminology, usage generally follows local spelling patterns and preferences.

Answer 4

When I think of the two I think.."disk" for like a floopy disk that you put in a computer. When I think "disc" I think of CDs and DVDs. That makes the most scense to me. There isn't nothing wrong with pawn shops, I know several people that shop at pawn stores before going anywhere else when looking for something, because you can find hardly used items for cheap.

Answer 5

I spell it as disc - never thought of it like this tho.

Kudos for you finding good bargains at a pawn shop; I especially like to shop at GoodWill - awesome bargains - and I can use the money I saved on other things.

Answer 6

definately DISC... here's the break down....

Discs
A disc refers to optical media, such as an audio CD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, or DVD-Video disc. Some discs are read-only (ROM), others allow you to burn content (write files) to the disc once (such as a CD-R or DVD-R, unless you do a multisession burn), and some can be erased and rewritten over many times (such as CD-RW, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs).

All discs are removable, meaning when you unmount or eject the disc from your desktop or Finder, it physically comes out of your computer.

Disks
A disk refers to magnetic media, such as a floppy disk or the disk in your computer's hard drive, an external hard drive, and even iPod. Disks are always rewritable unless intentionally locked or write-protected. You can easily partition a disk into several smaller volumes, too.

Although both discs and disks are circular, disks are usually sealed inside a metal or plastic casing (often, a disk and its enclosing mechanism are collectively known as a "hard drive").

Answer 7

Disc is the correct spelling disk is for wierdo's. saying that i'm a weirdo and i spell it disc. also it doesn't matter where you get movie from as long as they're good. I personally own at least 400 dvds

Answer 8

I use disc when I am refering to a cd or dvd. I use disk when I am refering to a sloppy disk or something like that.

Answer 9

Well I call them discs

I never refer to DVD's as discs or disks but when I think disk I think Floppy Disk...

Answer 10

If you look on most any CD player it'll have a symbol that says "Compact Disc".

And as far as used DVD's, I'd say about half of my collection was bought used and I haven't had any problems