FWIW Department:

I just realized, after hanging around here for fifteen months, that the "shocked" emoticon
looks like a grounded electric socket.

A little slow on the uptake, I guess. It's not all that easy to keep current.

An important difference - An grounded outlet should also have as you look at it a wider slot
on your left. It used to be possible to connect two extension cords in series in a way that produced
a short circuit. Now with one lug of plug wider than the other, that cannot happen.

I also believe that now they are installing grounded outlets with the single(ground) hole on top.

"A little slow on the uptake, I guess. It's not all that easy to keep current."

Alternating, or direct?

"AC/DC" may get you AIDS

Wof:

I agree. Shocked does look like the grounded socket. I'm looking right now at the ones in the music room and they're upside-down compared to , but direction never has made much difference to me.

Now, what's made this thread fun for me is seeing how wwh jumped on and immediately began to tell us why is NOT like a grounded socket.

I think that may have something to do with why I like this board. You have the ones who notice things from a certain slant, and then you have those who say, "No way! And this is why!"

Last night I was in the bathroom my brother just put in for my mother, and I noticed that the spigot--a modern design--actually looked like a duck's head, unintentionally by the designer, I believe, because there weren't eyes in it. But I became excited anyway because I liked seeing that duck's head over the sink, so I shouted out, "Mama!!! Come here!!! See the duck!!" She said, "I don't want to see the duck. I'm playing solataire." I said, "You've got to see this! It's so cool!" So, she got up as she's gotten up so many times over the years we've been together, came into the bathroom, and I pointed to the spigot. "There! See the duck's head." She said, "You got me up from solataire to look at that? I noticed that the day your brother put the sink in." And she went back to her solataire. I thought to myself, "Well, I wonder why she didn't point it out to me? Things like duck's heads are pretty important in the grand scheme of things...."

So, Wof. I'm glad you pointed out the grounded socket to us. And I'm glad wwh jumped on and showed us how it wasn't quite accurate. But my duck didn't have eyes either. Still, it was a duck's head the way your grounded socket is a grounded socket.

Well, gee whiz, I thought the left-hand slot _was_ a little longer. See?

Maybe it's be my astigmatism. But if enough of you just Believe...
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In reply to:

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An important difference - An grounded outlet should also have as you look at it a wider slot
on your left.

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Note here they don't. Three-pin plug outlets are the standard here - conservatively accounting for 99.999999999999999999999% (+/- .01%) of all outlets, and all three slots are exctly equal in size.

It's not all that easy to keep current.
Wofa, our opinions are polarized on this matter.
Speaking of which: I HATE polarized plugs!!! Particularly when I'm standing on my head in a darkened recess, my arm extended to its maximum reach, and...the %&*$#@ plug won't go in where it's supposed to!
I will say that I have long thought that our electrical outlets look like shocked faces, but I never made the connection with .(!)

Dear Jackie: I too have been irritated by trouble inserting polarized plugs, for instance in ones
low down in areas where they have to be protected by a cover hinged at the top .
But unpolarized plugs have killed people. I don't want to go back to that.