brake disc vs brake disk

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Brucey
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brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Brucey »

I don't know, maybe I am turning pedantic in my old age but every time I see someone has written 'brake disk' I find myself almost as irritated as if they had written 'break disc' for the same thing..... :wink:

I wondered if it is just me.... but many people draw a firm distinction, using disk for certain computer media and nothing else (including Apple corporation) and this is taught in some computer education courses.

http://www.daynw.com/disc-vs-disk-whats-the-difference-if-there-is-one/

If I type 'brake disc' into a search engine I get 13 million hits but if I search for 'brake disk' instead it is less than half as many and the top hit is likely to be the relevant Wikipedia article which has the title 'Disc Brake' rather than 'Disk Brake'....

I am told that in US English it is more likely that the two terms are used interchangeably but in this case it rubs me up the wrong way; Disc Brakes were a British invention and were never, ever, referred to as 'Disk Brakes' by the engineers who made perfecting them their life's work.

Does it really matter? I'm not certain; language is, after all, defined by usage.

cheers
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I like this. But not as much as I liked it when I saw someone address you as 'Brucie'. [emoji6]
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Yep,...................like peddle.......Brucy............... :mrgreen:
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Tonyf33
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Tonyf33 »

language has always developed over time ascribing a certain spelling to X and sometimes that changes even after that particular spelling is adopted globally.
the word disc/disk originally comes from the Greek diskus from which it became 'discus' in Latin use (meaning round flat thing), apparently 1664 was when 'disc' was introduced into the English language, disk also from about mid 17thC coming about due to how others words were spelt/sounded such as 'whisk'.
Personally if our language is mostly Latin/Germanic based then it should be 'disc' referring to all flat circular items including computer 'discs' compact discs, brake discs etc. 'Disk' should just be removed from general use but referred to as being deriving from the Greek 'diskus' and as such an older but superfluous variant.
Brucey
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Brucey »

Heltor Chasca wrote:I like this. But not as much as I liked it when I saw someone address you as 'Brucie'.


:lol: I don't really mind that, but thus far that form of address has mostly been the province of my sisters and various girlfriends...

cheers
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Ljaydee
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Ljaydee »

As Brucey says, disc brakes were a British invention (Dunlop I think) and that is the correct spelling. I find the spelling of brake calliper instead of brake caliper equally annoying.
Samuel D
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Samuel D »

Ljaydee wrote:I find the spelling of brake calliper instead of brake caliper equally annoying.

Even though calliper is arguably more British?
pete75
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by pete75 »

Ljaydee wrote:As Brucey says, disc brakes were a British invention (Dunlop I think) and that is the correct spelling. I find the spelling of brake calliper instead of brake caliper equally annoying.


Dunno about Dunlop - I thought they didn't make any until the fifties. Freddie Dixon used them on his TT winning sidecar outfit in 1923. I think they were his own invention.


Image

About the first racing car to use discs was the V16 BRM around 1950 - made by Girling and using 6 pot calipers

Image

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=61K ... es&f=false
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Mick F
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Mick F »

Break or brake? :lol:

The word "disc" is defined as a flat circular object.
The word "disk" is defined as an information storage device for a computer etc.

Trouble is, French is "disque" and Latin is "discus".
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (originally referring to the seemingly flat circular form of the sun or moon): from French disque or Latin discus
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kylecycler
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by kylecycler »

A few months ago on the Nostalgia Forum - a sub-section of the Autosport Forum for stuff to do with motorsport history - someone posted a thread entitled 'Glowing Rotors', the first post being "Glowing rotors are the coolest part of racing. Who wants to share their favorite pictures?"

Now, you could tell from the OP's spelling of the word 'favourite' that he was American, but he was met with a predictably frosty (if tongue-in-cheek) response: "If you are referring to the American-ised term for what we call brake discs, you are on your own, good sir..."

They then spent the next two pages arguing among themselves about whether they were discs or rotors (although as one poster put it, "Just be thankful no-one has so far called them brake disks!"), only occasionally posting photos of glowing rotors or discs, which was what the OP asked for.

And you think this place is bad? :lol:
Freddie
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Freddie »

Brucey, chill out man, English is a constantly evolving language, so I'm told, and this can only be a good thing, so I'm told. I fully expect to go into a shop someday to be met with "You want buy what" and not from a newly arrived Chinese immigrant, but by some young Brit who is speaking a new form of our constantly evolving English. This can like, only be a good thing, to have a living, evolving language.

I think English, both written and spoken, by many people under the age of about 40 bears a semblance to the bicycle industry in its infancy, in that it is entirely without agreed standards. Everyone has their own way of doing it and who are you to question their spelling, what difference does it make if someone says break or brake, bear or bare, disk or disc? You knew what they meant from the context of the sentence or at the very least could have made a reasonable guess, why such a stickler for accuracy. Don't be such a grammar Nazi!

All the same, I just want to say how you are my go to poster and really hit the ball out of the park when you step up to the plate and post on the forum. I hope you continue post for always!

You really need to get over this thing about break and brake, disk and disc though, who are you to tell other people how to use English. I mean, like, who made you king of the universe. Stop being so oppressive and offensive. What does it matter, you knew what they meant, isn't that what counts... sheesh...:roll:
MikeF
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by MikeF »

Has to be disc brake or brake disc. Anything else is irritating. But even more irritating is "your" instead of "you're". :wink: I don't even pronounce them the same, but obviously some people do?
"Peddle" instead of "pedal" can be amusing depending on the sentence. All very problematic if you have difficulty with words though.
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rmurphy195
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by rmurphy195 »

Lots of spelling examples in this article http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/201 ... nion3.html

I've always used "disc" as the spelling. I'm not an English major but I do get irritated by things like

You're (you are going to town) not your (are you on your way to town)

"Would Have" spuriously The Victorians would have travelled by train and would have walked along the pier to get on the boat" this is how they reached a destination. Today the train no longer exists, but I would have used it if it was there

You peddle your goods in the market, you pedal your bicycle along the road

You have a number of boats, you don't have a number of boat's
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Keith Bennett
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Keith Bennett »

Disc Brakes may very well have first been used on cars in the 1950s, But I believe had been used on aircraft some years before that, So does anybody know who invented the disc brake, or was it in fact the bicycle caliper brake which after all is a disc brake.
Tonyf33
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Re: brake disc vs brake disk

Post by Tonyf33 »

Keith Bennett wrote:Disc Brakes may very well have first been used on cars in the 1950s, But I believe had been used on aircraft some years before that, So does anybody know who invented the disc brake, or was it in fact the bicycle caliper brake which after all is a disc brake.

Frederick Lanchester circa 1903, apparently the discs were made from copper :lol:
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