Re: spelling of disc (disk) in /devfs

Harald Arnesen
2001-02-01T23:19:15Z

"Richard B. Johnson" <root@chaos.analogic.com> writes:

> Webster says (but what did he know), that "disc" is an abbreviation
> for "discount", a variation of "disk", or a "phonograph record".

The "Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English"
(1995 edition) says that a disc is:

(also esp US disk)
1. a flat, thin, round object, eg a coin (he wears an identity disc
around his neck)
2. a round surface that appears to be flat (the moon's disc)
3. = record (recordings on disc and cassette) see also compact disc
4. = disk 2
5. (anatomy) a layer of cartilage between the bones of the spine

> Disk is even more obscure, It relates to plowing and harrowing.
> However buried in the text is a reference to "round flat plate coated
> with a magnetic substance upon which data for a computer is stored"

And a disk is:

1. (esp US) disc
2. (computing) a circular plate on which data can be recorded in a
form that can be used by a computer
--
Harald Arnesen, Apalløkkveien 23 A, N-0956 Oslo, Norway