Plug, wall socket, wall plug, extension lead/cord

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi All,

I want to know how to say somebody that he should unplug the cabel.
I’d like to know what common people say.
I could say briefly unplug it but which is correct from the below list?

  1. Pull the wall-plug of the extension cord out of the plugbox
  2. Pull the wall-plug of the extension lead out of the plugbox
  3. Pull the plug of the extension cord out of the wall socket
  4. Pull the plug of the extension lead out of the wall socket
  5. Pull the plug of the extension cord out of the plugbox
  6. Pull the plug of the extension cord out of the plug contact
  7. Pull the connector of the extension lead out of the plug contact
  8. Unplug the extension cord jack out of the wall recepticle

Thanks,

2

In my part of the universe we would say either of these:

“Unplug the extension cord from the wall socket.”
“Pull the extension cord plug out of the wall socket.”

The first one is probably better.

3

Im an american living in norway and i recently had a polish lady ask me what the outlet in the wall is called i said it was a plug…then she pointed to the end of the cord and said this is the plug? i said yeah thats a plug… but i think i called them both plugs…
wheres the plug? I would say when looking for an electrical outlet… or plug it in… but the part you plug in is also called a plug… its got me all confused…
but i dont think people really use the term electrical outlet or socket… too much…

plug the plug in the wall

4

You have a gap in your vocabulary. Based on your poor writing (for example, the fact that you don’t know where to capitalize or punctuate), it’s pretty clear that your English skills aren’t very good, so I’m not surprised you wouldn’t know the correct word for an electrical outlet.

You were dead wrong about the socket being called a “plug”, and the Polish lady was absolutely right. Americans do commonly use the terms “socket” and “outlet”, and you’ll never see the electrical source referred to as a “plug” in a set of printed instructions or a user manual.

5

It would be rather confusing if we called a socket a plug, and a plug a plug as well.

Why not call the light bulb a plug, too?

Here in Ireland we don’t screw-in bulbs too often, they are sort of plugged in with a twist.

6

actually i do know where and when to punctuate i just dont feel like it.

most normal average people do not call it a socket or an electril outlet in everyday speach… they usually say “plug thingy”

the biggest mistake with foreigners is sounding waaay too proper like they were book learned.

im just telling it how it is…

i have a bachelors degree…im sure people would rather know everyday speach than technical speach.

i really dont give a damn what you have to say i lived in the usa all my life and went to college…

i seriously never had someone use the term electrical outlet when they want someone to plug something in…

if you want to settle this watch the brittany murphey ashton kutcher movie theres a scene with a foreign wall socket…

but wall plug:

thefreedictionary.com/wall+plug

(thats from an AMERICAN dictionary a place Im from and the guy from ireland is not)

“wall plug” real term… shortened to “plug” in everyday speach… welcome to america dip

excuse me…i just saw ur pic so i meant chick.

7

First off, the guy from Ireland isn’t a guy.

Secondly, this is a forum where people want to learn English. This incidentally includes punctuation, spelling and the proper use of words.

Your Bachelor degree is worth nothing here when you can’t pull that off.

If you don’t want to write properly because you ‘don’t feel like it’, then I suggest you look for a forum where spelling and punctuation don’t matter.

8

Jenny, you write like a very ignorant person. I’m American, born and raised in the United States, and I know you’re wrong about the electrical source not being called an “outlet” or “socket” here, and it’s definitely not normal for an American to call it a “plug thingy”, unless they’re talking in so-called “valley speech”.

It’s rather comical that an American who claims to have a university degree would think it’s bad to sound “book learned”. The fact that you can’t spell words like “speech” (and spelled it wrong again and again) makes me wonder what kind of university you went to and what you studied. I’ll make sure I advise people not to send their kids there.

9

see ehow.com/how_2241293_test-el … ivity.html

“9. Call the electrician to do the electrical work if you need to replace the PLUG. If you were able to troubleshoot the problem in the breaker panel, return your receptacle to its box and tighten the screws.”

10

You can teach people how to punctuate and spell but if they are using and placing words wrong it means nothing.

No-one ever told them they were wrong when they concluded
“Unplug the extension cord from the wall socket.”
was the right way to say
pull out a cable.

A plug and an extension cord is worse to confuse than a plug and an electrical outlet

99% of the time people will know what you mean when you call an outlet a plug. However an extension cord is not a plug. Not all cords are extension cords. Only things that extend cords are extension cords.

Try helping these people with that, and if you visit my link above you will see technical documents do switch between calling it an outlet and a plug.

11

You’re not reading that article correctly. There is nowhere in the article where they use the words “plug” and “outlet” interchangeably.

12

" the biggest mistake with foreigners is sounding waaay too proper like they were book learned."

Good morning Jennie, in spite of your protestations to the contrary, the power outlet on the wall is recognised, and referred to, as a SOCKET.

The piece that fits into it, and transmits the power to an appliance is also recognised, and referred to, as a PLUG.

This is a universal acceptance.

Kitosdad.

13

Having just rewired my house I agree that a socket is a socket and a plug is a plug. However, to refer to a socket as a plug is a very common mistake and I agree fully with jennytc - most people would know exactly what you meant. It’s one of those mistakes that doesn’t particularly matter.

14

But while people come here to learn they might as well learn it the right way to begin with. It would be utterly wrong to let it slip only because some people make this mistake.

15

Of course, I agree.

16

And so do I. By all means use the correct terminology. But jennytc made a very valid point, that many native English speakers confuse the terms socket and plug. That doesn’t mean others have the right to treat her like an idiot.

17

I think Jennytc invited the treatment by pretending to be some kind of university-educated authority on the matter without being able to write literately in English. A typo or two would have been one thing, but her kind of bad English brings shame on my nation, so somebody had to tell her.