Mike Holt Enterprises Electrical News Source

Electrical Slang

What do a "bug" and a "cherry" have in common?

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They are both electrical slang terms!

We were recently contacted by Jared Coleson, of Elliott Electric Supply, who's created a website of electrical slang terms. Whether you are an electrician, contractor, or just someone trying to understand what your local electrician is jabbering about, you can use the glossary to learn trade slang and electrical jargon. Baffled by a term you just overheard? Type it in the search box at the top and flip the switch!

Here's Jared's story:

45 I’ve been a software developer at Elliott Electric Supply for 15 years and throughout my career one of the most common complaints from non-electricians is that they just don’t understand the terminology electricians use. And when electricians look at our website, invoices, or cut sheets they complain that we aren’t using their terminology. The manufacturers encourage the use of either their brand names or generic scientific terms. But try as they might, those just aren’t the terms your average electrician uses every day. Which leads to confusion when electricians and non-electricians try to talk about material together.

Slang has always been an obvious training issue for our sales people, but it goes beyond that. When visiting with customers, I’m often in discussions with their own office personnel who are frustrated that they don’t understand the electricians who work with them. They’ll end up in frustrating situations where they’re told to look for receipts for goof plates, but all they can find are receipts for jumbo plates. That may be a silly example, but it happens all the time.

We knew we needed to add slang terms to our own website and internal software, but after discussing it we felt we had an opportunity to do more. Instead of just adding slang terms to www.ElliottElectric.com we decided to create a site that could be more easily used by the industry as a whole. This really is one of those tools where the more people that contribute, the better it is. So to create the best resource, we needed to create something that could be used by new electricians, non-electricians working for electrical contractors, and even sales people at other supply houses.

I remembered using a website called Trade Slang several years ago to help test our website that did just that. At the time I found it really helpful. Unfortunately it no longer exists. But one of the developers on my team was able to find and contact the owner and get a list of their terms. With that trade slang’s data and input from our own sales force, we designed a new modern website that would serve as a thesaurus of electrical slang for everyone.

You can read a brief version of our story here: www.electricalslang.com/About . We have over 800 terms on so far, and continue to add more.

To contact Jared, email JaredColeson@elliottelectric.com or visit their website by clicking here to contribute.

 

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Comments
  • I was born in California, started my career here, then moved to South Florida where I eventually went into business, (due in no small part to Mike Holt's contractor's license classes). When I moved back to California 11 years later. I actually had to draw pictures so the counter help could figure out what I was asking for! They just couldn't understand "South Floridian"

    Randy Olsen  August 2 2017, 6:35 pm EDT
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  • Jarod, After perusing through a cross-section of your slang definitions and secret electrician hand-shake terminology, the task of compiling a slang/jargon dictionary is a formidable challenge. Modern integration of electronic process methods and components along with electrical trade monikers will be an endless task like a 'daisy chain.' I admire the energy you have in creating a new code book of language. Best Regards.

    ben jacks  August 2 2017, 1:18 am EDT
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  • What this author is calling slang is, in reality, jargon, because it is used only by select group of people. In this case, people who are associated with the electrical trade. He did miss some but these are both generational and geopgrahical variations. One I believe is universal is tattle tail. It is a low amp fuse put in parallel with with part of the circuit we think may be momentarily opening during a period when that part should remain closed. Another he may has missed is high leg.

    Bob  July 16 2017, 9:35 pm EDT
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  • During electricians training, I was taught never to use more then one wire to a power terminal. The obvious exception was the wire nut at the end of the "HOME RUN" where the first splice of the branch circuit is pig tailed.

    David Ford  July 14 2017, 4:41 pm EDT
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  • I remember years ago I traveled to Louisiana and asked for a "pancake" at the electrical supply and they didn't know what I wanted. Laughed and told me they wasn't a Waffle house. I explained I wanted a 4 by 1/2 inch round junction box. They then exclaimed that was a biscuit box.

    JenTronics  July 14 2017, 12:05 am EDT
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