Do you call a power outlet a “plug-in”?

34 comments

1. no, I call it a plug or an outlet

2. Also moved to the Pacific Northwest and yes that is a common term.

3. No. I also lived in Seattle for 5 years and I’ve never heard that term.

4. Lifetime in the PNW and I’ve heard “plug in” my whole life used interchangeably with plug and outlet.

5. I’ve lived in the south and the Midwest my whole life. Never heard an outlet/plug referred to as a plug-in.

6. I usually call it a plug, but yeah, plug in wouldn’t be unusual

7. No, a “plug-in” is one of those Glade brand scent diffuser things.

8. Just a plug or an outlet

9. No it’s a plug and an outlet

10. Its definitely not a plug, because plugs go *into* outlets.

    Like nuts and bolts, they are not interchangeable terms.

11. I and everyone I know often call them “plug ins” but we know that the “proper” term is outlet

12. Existential
    is it an outlet or a plug in? There is no outlet without the plugin yet nothing to plugin with no outlet.

13. Usually an outlet

14. Yeah that’s pretty common here. Plug is probably a tiny bit more common.

15. No, never have.

16. Nope. “outlet” is the only term I ever hear.

17. No and I was born and raised in the PNW. We mainly say outlet.

18. A plug goes into an outlet. Occasionally I’ll hear receptacle but only from people who work in electricity

19. No but I now have the old glade commercial stuck in my head. Plug it in plug it in.

20. Plug or outlet if I’m talking to a normal person. “Electrical receptacle” if I’m talking to someone in the industry.

21. I’m from the Pacific Northwest and call it an outlet

22. It’s been an outlet my whole life in Oregon.

23. Nope. Outlet.

24. I’ve lived here my whole life, can’t say I’ve ever heard it referred to as that.

25. Mid Atlantic here. I’ve always used plug or outlet. A “plug in” is a scented air freshener that you plug in to the outlet.

26. No. Sometimes I call it a plug, which is a holdover from my Philly childhood. Its an outlet.

27. I say outlet or plug, but not plug-in.

28. Yes. Western Washington native and my dad was an electrician. It’s a plug-in. I’m surprised to learn that isn’t a common term in other parts of the US.

29. I call them electric sockets or just sockets

30. Outlet or receptacle. “Plug” is the male end.

31. nah, plug-in is an adjective used to describe something like plug-in drill or plug-in shaver, versus battery-powered ones.

32. I’ve heard it, but I don’t recall ever using it.

33. I’m an electrician and the correct term is receptacle. A plug is what you plug into one and an outlet is the box its installed in. People refer to it by any of those three terms tho so it doesn’t really matter

34. Oh you mean the holes.