Commonly misused/misspelled words and phrases (Part 46)

These are some frequently confused words, and how to use them correctly:

Disc vs. disk

Wrong: My hard disc crashed.
Right: My hard disk crashed.

Disc and disk are both valid spellings, but are generally used differently. If referring to CDs, then use compact disc. Similarly, DVDs are digital video discs (sometimes called digital versatile discs, because they’re used for more than just videos these days). But when talking about floppies (diskettes) or hard drives, spell it floppy disk drive or hard disk drive.

Singing vs. singeing

Wrong: He says he’s grilling steaks, but what he’s really doing is singing the hair off his arms.
Right: He says he’s grilling steaks, but what he’s really doing is singeing the hair off his arms.

Although it looks odd, singeing is the correct spelling, to distinguish it from the act of making beautiful music via one’s vocal cords—or in some cases, making sounds like a strangled cat.

More next time.

Mark.