# Plugging in plugs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093 "2016-12-07T06:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/21 "2016-12-07T22:01:31Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t try to “jam it in”, I just go to plug it in and it’s wrong side up every time. [This is me trying to plug in a cord.](https://youtu.be/o7Ixe95CZOE?t=29) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/22 "2016-12-07T23:01:07Z")
I’ve had users try to plug a mouse into a PS2 keyboard socket. If pins don’t break off, I can straighten them out a needle nose pliers. Several years ago I had a Director plug an external modem in wrong (by G-d this will fit!) and I was picking pieces out with tweezers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/23 "2016-12-07T23:14:21Z")
[http://i.imgur.com/8cEBpMB.png](http://i.imgur.com/8cEBpMB.png) ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/24 "2016-12-08T10:15:10Z")
Whenever there are only two options (plug orientation, square knot, “Raise your right hand,” it always takes me three tries, at minimum. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/25 "2016-12-08T13:21:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I thought **Son of a Rich** was talking about US polarized outlets where there’s only one way to plug it in (since he said appliances), but I admit I could be wrong. USB plugs are indeed a pain in the ass. Yeah, I was thinking that too. I just file them down so they fit both ways. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/26 "2016-12-08T14:00:50Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking that too. I just file them down so they fit both ways. Do any manufacturers actually ground the chassis to electrical ground? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/27 "2016-12-08T14:09:10Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > [http://i.imgur.com/8cEBpMB.png](http://i.imgur.com/8cEBpMB.png) Schrodinger’s USB. I like that! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093/28 "2016-12-08T15:49:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ve had users try to plug a mouse into a PS2 keyboard socket. If pins don’t break off, I can straighten them out a needle nose pliers. Several years ago I had a Director plug an external modem in wrong (by G-d this will fit!) and I was picking pieces out with tweezers. What’s worse, since the baseline definition of PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports can both are generally implemented with exactly the same connector (6-pin mini DIN), it’s easy and non-destructive to plug a mouse into a keyboard port or vice/versa. It just doesn’t work, which can be pretty mysterious and frustrating if you just spent 10 minutes blindly struggling to get the peripheral plugged in and accidentally used the wrong port. What I liked (as a support guy) was the dude who thought the PS/2 port was a “twist-lock” design. In other words, plug it in and then give it a 90-degree twist. Which didn’t so much “lock the connection together” as it “sheared the pins and the retention key off”. And did this with one keyboard after another, because obviously the keyboard was defective if it didn’t work after being “properly connected and locked in.” :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plugging-in-plugs/774093.md?page=1)