# Insert the male into the female
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 15, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467 "2001-08-15T23:40:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/1 "2001-08-15T23:40:47Z")
Well sorry to get all your hopes up but this is about electronic connectors.
When you have a simple connector like the one on a Walkman it’s pretty easy to tell which is the male plug and which is the female. But what if the connector has parts that can go either way?
What about the connector at the end of a serial mouse? - According to RadioShack the mouse is a female plug. What about a RCA plug, usb, CATV coax plug?
Basically what is the rule - do you go with the outside or the center or something else - do you disregard the shield? Unless the rule is really complex I know there are people out there who have it wrong since I can’t find a pattern.
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### Author:  [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/2 "2001-08-16T00:53:44Z")
Disregard the shield. Go with the pins. That’s how I’ve always understood it anyway.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/3 "2001-08-16T01:02:12Z")
Yup. The pins are the little tiny penii. If you see pins or a lead (like with your walkman), it’s male. If you see a hole or holes, it’s female.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/4 "2001-08-16T01:38:07Z")
I don’t know how “penii” got to be assumed as the plural of _penis_ online these days, but you see it everyplace. (Well, a lot of places.) If you want the real Latin plural, it’s _penes_. In English, you can just say _penises_.
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### Author:  [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/5 "2001-08-17T19:54:24Z")
I won’t touch that one.
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### Author:  [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-the-male-into-the-female/76467/6 "2001-08-17T20:03:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _by Cheese Head_
> I won’t touch that one.
The OP or all those peniseseseses?