• Boz (he/him)@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    …is it bad that as a trans man who knows nothing about electrical connectors, I still find this rant relatable? You’d think there would be some kind of terminology for getting your equipment to play with your other equipment, but no, and don’t even get me started on what happens when it has to interface with organic systems…

    • PrunesMakeYouPoop@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      In the connector world, we call it mating. In my previous comment, I should have said “mates with” instead of “plugs into”, but wanted to make it simple and abundantly clear.

      “Interface with organic systems” I actively laughed at this. I find your phrasing way funnier than it should be. Thanks for the chuckle.

      But yeah, every word is a made up word, so make one up?

        • PrunesMakeYouPoop@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          That’s a nice idea, but unfortunately physics has determined insertion to be the best way to guarantee a solid connection.
          There are other alternatives, such as pogo pins, but those are less than ideal in many use-cases.

          • Boz (he/him)@lemmy.one
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I think the most useful reconception is not to take “insertion” out of fields where it’s a useful, literal description, and instead, take it out of the realm of gender and sexuality, where it limits imagination. It’s 2023, and no one has to do things exactly like their parents did [at least once]. Unless they want to, in which case, great, but human bodies are extremely versatile.

            …semi-relatedly, the issue with the kind of equipment I’m talking about is only partly terminology. It’s a category of similar items made by a variety of companies in different sizes and configurations, so standard terminology would not create standardization unless a lot of companies agreed to do it. It’s something where measurements often help, but there are also some more… innovative… designs where measurement is not applicable in the same way, and would be confusing.