# What are 3.5 inch floppy disks called outside the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612 "2004-05-05T09:57:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/1 "2004-05-05T09:57:14Z")
I guess this is pretty self-explanatory. I mean I realize that most people here in the US just call them floppies now, since the 5 1/4" has gone the way of the dodo — but every now and then I still call them 3.5s. (As in 3.5 inches). Since the rest of the world is still on the metric system and not yet converted to US measurements (ha, ha), what do non-US dopers call these things? Just floppies? Or 8.89 cms? - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/2 "2004-05-05T10:00:11Z")
The odd thing about computer technology terms is that the rest of the world seems to have adopted US spelling. We call them disks, instead of discs; programs, instead of programmes; and we tend to use imperial measurements instead of metric. At least, that’s how it used to be. I think it is still the same. (It’s kind of annoying that I have to spell my HTML tags the US way, though) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/3 "2004-05-05T10:05:15Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > I guess this is pretty self-explanatory. > > I mean I realize that most people here in the US just call them floppies now, since the 5 1/4" has gone the way of the dodo — but every now and then I still call them 3.5s. (As in 3.5 inches). > > Since the rest of the world is still on the metric system and not yet converted to US measurements (ha, ha), what do non-US dopers call these things? Just floppies? Or 8.89 cms? > > - Peter Wiggen We call them ‘three-and-a-half-inch-floppies’ (or just ‘floppy disks’ (the American spelling of disc has been adopted for most computer media (except CDs, for which the full name is usually written with the English spelling). In the UK at least, although we are mostly metric officially, you can mention other systems without fear of a midnight visit from the secret weights and measures police. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/4 "2004-05-05T10:10:18Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > what do non-US dopers call these things? I know that in Germany they are called “dreieinhalb Zoll Disketten”, which translates to “three and a half inch disks”. “Zoll” is an older measurement used before Germany went metric, which is roughly equivalent to an inch. Here in the Netherlands, they are called “drie punt vijf inch floppys”, thus “three point five inch floppies”. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/5 "2004-05-05T10:11:33Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > Since the rest of the world is still on the metric system and not yet converted to US measurements (ha, ha), what do non-US dopers call these things? Just floppies? Or 8.89 cms? As you said, nowadays most people just call them floppy-disks or diskettes. Back when there was still the probability of confusion, we’d call them three-and-a-half inch or five-and-a-quarter inch (in Danish: Tre-en-halv tomme or fem-en-kvart tomme) - or even, showing my age, eight-inch (Otte tommer). It’s just a name - if anyone had ever needed to _use_ the figure for anything, it would have been converted to metric toot sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Zerc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/82dd89/32.png) [@Zerc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zerc)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/6 "2004-05-05T11:12:48Z")
In South Africa we call them stiffies because they’re stiff and not floppy like floppies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/7 "2004-05-05T12:08:10Z")
I recall from a previous thread in this forum that the standard width of a floppy disk is actually 90mm. Electrical/computer engineers, even in the USA, have long been using SI/metric measurements in their designs, while most American consumers continue to describe their hardware dimensions in more familiar units. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/8 "2004-05-05T12:19:20Z")
> [@Zerc](#): > > In South Africa we call them stiffies And if you said you were going to stuff a stiffie in a computer in the US, people would look at you funny. Or offer you lube. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/9 "2004-05-05T12:37:59Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > We call them ‘three-and-a-half-inch-floppies’ (or just ‘floppy disks’ (the American spelling of disc has been adopted for most computer media (except CDs, for which the full name is usually written with the English spelling). The convention in America is optical media = disc (compact disc, laser disc), magnetic media = disk (floppy disk, hard disk). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/10 "2004-05-05T12:39:57Z")
> [@Zerc](#): > > In South Africa we call them stiffies because they’re stiff and not floppy like floppies 🙂 Excuse me… Bwaaaa HA HA HAHAHA HAHAHHAH :snort: MMmmhheheeheheheee HAHAHA! Best. Technospeak.Ever. I shall make it my life’s ambition to circulate this terminology as widely as possible in the US. By Christmas, God willing, that’ll be what we call 'em too! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/11 "2004-05-05T12:49:05Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > The convention in America is optical media = disc (compact disc, laser disc), magnetic media = disk (floppy disk, hard disk). I think that’s more or less the case here, but I don’t think it is necessarily observed formally here. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/12 "2004-05-05T13:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > The convention in America is optical media = disc (compact disc, laser disc), magnetic media = disk (floppy disk, hard disk). Hm. I’ve always spelled it “disc”, since I was a kid (before floppy discs, CDs or DVDs). Of course I noticed that many people spell disc “disk”; but I thought that it was just an alternate spelling. ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/13 "2004-05-05T13:04:16Z")
> [@Zerc](#): > > In South Africa we call them stiffies because they’re stiff and not floppy like floppies 🙂 So you would go into a computer store and ask the salesperson if he had a stiffy? In that case, I concur with **Inigo Montoya** BWAHAHAHAHAHA! ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/14 "2004-05-05T13:04:49Z")
I remember in middle school, we used the terminology ‘floppy disk’ for the 5 1/4 inch variety and ‘flexi disk’ (short for flexible disk) for the 3 1/2 inch type. Then, when the larger disks fell into disuse, the ‘floppy’ term came to refer to the 3 1/2s. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/15 "2004-05-05T13:44:46Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > . . . what do non-US dopers call these things? Obsolete? No really, I’ve not one used here for ages. Any file transfer is done via the network, small software releases go by e-mail large ones go by CD, and does anyone boot off floppies any more? Peering round I can’t see any, not even being used as coasters. The last time I used one I broke it up to use the actual floppy bit as a filter to watch a partial eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/16 "2004-05-05T13:51:23Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > I’ve not one used here for ages. Argh! Not backwards say things I should… I’ve not _seen_ one used here for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/17 "2004-05-05T14:13:37Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > Since the rest of the world is still on the metric system and not yet converted to US measurements (ha, ha), what do non-US dopers call these things? A royale with cheese? C’mon, somebody had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/18 "2004-05-05T16:11:07Z")
The old terms were “floppies” for 8-inch disks, “mini-floppies” for 5.25-inch disks, and “micro-floppies” for 3.5. Also, see [http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/s/stiffy.html](http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/s/stiffy.html) for info on the term “stiffy” and even “firmy.” ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/19 "2004-05-05T16:44:40Z")
> [@Zerc](#): > > In South Africa we call them stiffies because they’re stiff and not floppy like floppies 🙂 I now can’t help but feel a sense of loss over the decade or more of juvenile humor that could have been. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612/20 "2004-05-05T16:47:53Z")
“Obsolete”? 😉 Actually, I remember an alternative naming convention from here in the US, circa '86: 5.25" floppies were called minidisks (to differentiate them from the 8" ones that no one remembers) and the 3.5" variety were called microdisks. Come to think of it, I believe it was Sony that tried to publicize that convention. Guess it didn’t exactly catch on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-3-5-inch-floppy-disks-called-outside-the-us/243612.md?page=2)