Confusion over nomenclature - Plugs vs. Jacks (male, female)

[rongon]

I'm no expert, but I've been connecting plugs and jacks since I got my hands on my parents' mono hi-fi at about the age of ten, and my first electric guitar and amp soon after. Back then, I learned that plugs are "male" and go into "female" jacks.

I work for a computer-oriented consumer audio electronics company where there seems to be a new understanding of this. Apparently an "RCA jack" can be male, and what I call an RCA jack can be called a "port."

Needless to say, I'm confused, and so are our customers.

So my question is... Is there a consensus around the world that male connectors are "plugs" and female connectors are "jacks"?

I looked it up in Wikipedia and got completely confusing info, from here:
TRS connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In that article, I found a reference to a "jack plug" being a common term in the UK:

"In the UK, the terms jack plug and jack socket are commonly used for the respectively male and female TRS connectors..." (with a reference to an article by Robert McLeish (2005). Radio Production. Newnes. ISBN 0240519728.)

Does anyone out there really connect a "jack plug" to a "jack socket"? I'm totally confused now. Why the redundant use of the word "jack"?

Sorry if this seems trivial. I'm trying to solve a small mystery here.

-=|=-

[infinia]

normally the term "jack" is used for the stationary part.
When speaking to the UK just add "jack" to everything. haha
In 90% of applications? it's conventional to use the female on the jack part because its connections are not exposed ie you don't want exposed plugs (male) to be energized. (energised in the UK?)

[Enzo]

Don't think it so hard. The Brits call the connector a jack, then specify whether it is a plug or a socket. In the USA, we do it different. They call an elevator a lift, we call a lift an elevator. Their cars have boots and bonnets. They relieve themselves in the loo. SO don't worry what the Brits do when you are speaking to Americans, any more than I would expect them to use our jargon discussing amongst themselves.


Now you may be in the USA, but I bet the products you are supporting came from elsewhere in the world. And that elsewhere just may have different terminology from ours. And that can be reflected in the documentation for the product.

To me, a "port" means something electrical - a point in the circuit where the outside world has access to the circuit. So your computer has a printer port, a video port, a game controller port, a mouse port, etc. Each of those uses a different connector. SO your RCA female could easily be a jack AND a port all at the same time.


Fortunately we don't say it much any longer, but it used to be folks referred to RCA connectors as "phono" connectors, and the 1/4" connectors as "phone" connectors. Naturally sloppy usage prevailed and people would be interchanging the terms. "Yeah, I had to put a new phono plug on my guitar cord..." No, you put a phone plug on it. Sheesh.


I often say RCA plug, but I also use the term "RCA male" a lot. By saying RCA male and RCA female, I think it leaves little room for confusion.

[Minion]

Originally Posted by Enzo

They relieve themselves in the loo. .

I found that they usually relieve themselves in the street ......

[dave_gerecke]

Originally Posted by infinia

normally the term "jack" is used for the stationary part.
When speaking to the UK just add "jack" to everything. haha
In 90% of applications? it's conventional to use the female on the jack part because its connections are not exposed ie you don't want exposed plugs (male) to be energized. (energised in the UK?)

Does this mean that we Americans don't know "jack"?!

Peace,

Dave

P.S. Yes the nomenclature is confusing, especially when different cultures collide, and people within one culture misuse terms, as was noted above!

[nezbleu]

Originally Posted by Enzo

To me, a "port" means something electrical - a point in the circuit where the outside world has access to the circuit.

Unless you mean TCP/IP, in which case a "port" is just a number.

[sreten]

Hi,

Speaking as a Brit its simply plugs and sockets, male and female respectively.

FWIW jack plugs and sockets are used to refer to the common 6.3mm,
(actually 1/4") plugs and sockets used in musical equipment and studios.

They are based on the plugs and sockets that used to be used for telephony,
a manual switchboard (how it started) is quite similar to a patchbay in a studio.

Why jack I don't know*, the term goes back to the beginning of telephones.

rgds, sreten.

* I don't know jack, no idea where that comes from either .....

[dave_gerecke]

Originally Posted by sreten

Hi,

Speaking as a Brit its simply plugs and sockets, male and female respectively.

FWIW jack plugs and sockets are used to refer to the common 6.3mm,
(actually 1/4") plugs and sockets used in musical equipment and studios.

They are based on the plugs and sockets that used to be used for telephony,
a manual switchboard (how it started) is quite similar to a patchbay in a studio.

Why jack I don't know, the term goes back to the beginning of telephones.

rgds, sreten.

So, apparently some Britons don't know "jack" either?!

Peace,

Dave

[sreten]

Hi,

Crossed post and my editing.

Wiki is useless. TRS (tip ring sleeve) is stereo and nothing to do with telephony.
(Can also be used for balanced mono instead of XLR's, but that is not usual.)
The connection of course is its based on the mono version used for telephony.

rgds, sreten.

[Pano]

Originally Posted by sreten

(Can also be used for balanced mono instead of XLR's, but that is not usual.)

It's pretty common in pro audio.

Jack - despite its masculine name, is female and panel mount. The plug is male and goes into the jack.