Brian K. West:
> Jun 16 13:42:39 ns1 exim[15666]: 2003-06-16 13:42:39 19RyhC-00044N-Fz ==
> brian@??? <xxxxx> R=virtual_local_user T=virtual_delivery defer (69):
> Disc quota exceeded: mailbox is full
>
> Should it be Disk or Disc?
>
> When I think of Disc I think like shiny plastic like DVD's or CD's!?!?
On Mon, 16 Jun 2003, Troy Settle wrote:
> The American Heritage Dictionary lists 'disc' as a variant of 'disk.' I
> would look it up in the OED, but can't seem to find any public access to
> it on the web and it's not worth my while to go to the library. It's
> rather sad that we can't freely access the authoritative source for our
> own language.
>
> Personally, I dislike 'disc' in any context, wether it be a FD, HDD, CD,
> DVD, or one of those things used in the Olympics (discus).
The Etymology section of the OED says:
The earlier and better spelling is disk, but disc is now the more
usual form in British English, except in sense 2g, where disk is
commoner as a result of US influence.
2g is
Computing. A rotatable disc used to store data in digitally
coded form, e.g. in a magnetic coating or optically,
so in this context we can't even excuse "disc" on the grounds
that British English has moved on from its high point.
If we are to believe the OED it *has* to be
Disk quota exceeded: mailbox is full:
--
Dr. Andrew C. Aitchison Computer Officer, DPMMS, Cambridge
A.C.Aitchison@??? http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~werdna
