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Subject:Re: Re[8]: Killer Language From:Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 3 Dec 1996 08:19:55 -0800
On Tue, 3 Dec 1996 07:56:16 -0600, Wing, Michael J wrote:
>>> It is NOT "universally accepted". I would hesitate to call the female
>>> end of a serial cable, a "socket".
>>>
>>>Well, *you* might hesitate. But a quick check of the electronics catalogs in
>>>our lab shows many electronic supply firms don't share your hesitation. That
>>>particular designation has found its way to print so often it's become part
>>>of the designator -- "DB25S," where the "S" means socket -- in the catalogs.
>>>
>>>My unscientific survey turns up pin/socket almost as often as male/female in
>>>describing the parts. While you might risk bewildering the non-technical
>>>members of your audience by using pin and socket instead of male and female,
>>>I don't think you'd even cause an engineer to pause.
>>
>Now I'm really confused. When I worked at Raytheon, many of the
>connectors had sockets and pins. Furthermore, their mating connectors
>(this terminology will probably start a new thread) also had pins and
>sockets. I guess these connectors are hermaphrodites ;^).
Therein lies the problem: as I mentioned before, one could also look
at, say, a female DB-25 connector as not BEING a "socket" (it certainly
doesn't LOOK like my idea of a "socket", but as HAVING 25 little
sockets.
I think this particular tangent has come full-circle at this point (can
a tangent do that? :) Suffice to say, "plug" and "socket" are a little
too ambiguous to replace "male" and "female" outright, at least when
dealing with cable-connector descriptions.
(Funny... reminds me of a Howard Jones song from back around '86...
"You got the socket, and I got the plug..." ;-)
Your friend and mine,
Matt
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