semi OT: confusion in terms (jacks/sockets)

[vdm]

hey guys,

This is something that's been getting to me for a while now, but only now have i decided to see what you all think.

What I'm getting at, is that to me, the things we put in our pedals to plug the leads into, are called sockets. I'm not sure if I've only noticed it when people do it the other way, but it seems like *everyone* uses the term 'jacks'.

So am I crazy and uninformed, or do 'jacks' come on the end of a guitar lead, and 'sockets' are in our pedals, guitars and amps???

thanks..
trent

*awaits immediate shooting down*

[Mike Burgundy]

AFAIK, the "sockets" - the female bit mounted to the chassis - are called jacks (no pun intended). Socket is a more general name for some sort of connection receptacle thingy (wallsocket, tube socket, etc - although "jack" basically is a general name too... derived from the meaning "something that holds something else in place" I think)
The male bit is called the jack-plug, but is often called jack for short (insert Will&Grace "justJack" joke here)

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

In the old days, I know the analog computer patchbays were called "jack fields", and the things you pluged into them were called, well, "plugs".
But there has clearly been a semantic shift over the last 50 years or so.
To avoid confusion, I always use the terms "plug" and "socket".
Whether or not calling a "plug" a "socket" is a special case of inverse metonymy I leave to the grammarians among us :wink:

[petemoore]

Plug goes in a jack
 1/4'' mono plug into stereo jack, says more
 socket is used often to mean 'socket' as stated above, quite commonly.
 I like to keep socket and jacks separated, nomenclature wise, but since the context content included 'mounted in enclosure' I figured it was probably making reference to a commonly used connection device, a 1/4'' 'jack'.

[R.G.]

Hey, would it help if we adopted the term "jacket"?

[niftydog]

Hey, would it help if we adopted the term "jacket"?

So.... "jackets" plug into "socks" right!??  :?



My 2 cents;

Jacks = male connectors

Sockets = female connectors


I raised this issue previously, my preference is for "plugs and sockets" as this removes any (perceived or otherwise) ambiguity about it. But, "jacks" is such a common term it's hard to go against the grain.