OK, so this has been bothering me for a LONG time.....

[jrfrond]

OK, so maybe I'm a bit twisted, but.....

Shouldn't the MALE part of a connector be called "Jack"? The masculine name should apply to the male part, no?

Why is the female sides called "Jack"? It should be called "Jill"!!! Or perhaps just "Jackie".

Perhaps I've been sniffing too many chemicals and solder fumes...

[Gibsonman63]

Very "Carlon-esk". There are other examples as well. For example your voltage souce on the wall is called an outlet by some and a receptical by others.

[Enzo]

When I worked at the music store, we had field reps that went to the various schools around the state. Mainly they were selling carloads of clarinets to the marching bands, but they also took care of other needs.

One rep brings me a low end mic with permanently attached cable, and the attached note, "Please replace the XLR plug with 1/4" jack, thank you." SO I did exactly that. Boy were they confused then.

I had no idea why they might want such a thing, but I put one on there, a nice Switchcraft cable mount 1/4" female on the end of hte mic cord.

he came back with it later and explained to me that the really wanted a 1/4" plug.

Oh.

So I changed it.

I usually have no trouble when folks use jack and plug interchangably, but they usually don;t mix the terms. I also make the effort to correct improper use.


Why is either gender called a jack, for that matter?

In some places they say "jack plug" and "jack socket."

The 1/4" jack has been around over 100 years.

[pdf64]

'For example your voltage souce on the wall is called an outlet by some and a receptical by others'

A common term used in the UK (my region at least), is 'plug-socket', ie the socket that you plug a plug into!

[rockin roy]

Just to add to all the visuals going around. Most connectors relate as if to genitalia, the male connector has the dick even if it is recessed.
Plug and Jack both refer to motion. The jack is fixed with respect to the Plug which moves.

[Enzo]

How about these cable mount jacks?

[rockin roy]

Don't shout the messenger.
If those are the part that moves (more easily) then I guess that would make them plug-jacks.
In the case where they are both attached to cables then I guess they would both be plugs.
If used as an interlock then they would both be jacks.

[Steve Conner]

Those are cable mount jack sockets.

I always got confused by the connectors used on CB and ham radio mics. The part that goes on the mic cable has a stubby protruding bit with a bunch of holes in it. The part on the front of the rig is a receptacle with a bunch of "dicks" inside.

When ordering them from my local electronics store, I got it wrong about 50% of the time, and I once had an argument with the guy behind the counter about which end should be considered female.

In the UK we only use "jack" to refer to the 1/4" or 1/8" jack plugs. Everything else is a "plug" or a "socket". We don't have "RCA jacks", we have phono plugs and sockets.

[Enzo]

And that is why we fought a war for our independence.

[rockin roy]

I like plug and socket too. Of course it may not make sense when you have a unisex connector like a GR connector. When you have mixed signal connectors they may have any configuration of pins; male, female, coax. Then the use of fixed or movable may make more sense. So in that case feel confident to call the fixed connector a Jack.