# extension cord



## sb70012

Hello,
Look at this picture please. What do you call it? Do you call it an extension cord?

Thank you.


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## Kimaunz

I would call it 'multi-plug extension cord'.


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## Ponyprof

I call that a power bar.


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## sami5896

I call it a plug cord


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## Barque

It's got various names. Take a look here: Power strip - Wikipedia


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## sb70012

Which word is more common for my picture?
extension cord?
power strip?
power bar?


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## Edinburgher

Kimaunz said:


> I would call it 'multi-plug extension cord'.


But it only has one plug. It should be multi-socket.  

Here these things are known as extension leads, extension cables, or extension cords, or even just extensions.  In some of them, their main purpose is to provide multiple outlets, and their cord itself will be relatively short, but even when their main purpose is to give distance, and they come on a reel, most of them tend to have more than one outlet.

When I hear "power bar", I think of a high-energy protein snack.

An extension lead need not be for power.  You can get extensions for loudspeakers, microphones, telephones, and ethernet, for example.


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## sb70012

Then, I think this picture is called an extension cord, right?


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## Andygc

sb70012 said:


> View attachment 47615
> Then, I think this picture is called an extension cord, right?


Extension cord or cable. I say cable.


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## sb70012

Longman Dictionary says that my picture in post #1 in the US is called "extension cord". Is this true?


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## london calling

Andygc said:


> Extension cord or cable. I say cable.


Or lead. 😊


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## sb70012

How about in AmE? What do Americans call these two in the US?


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## sami5896

In the US 
People call the yellow one a cable and the white one an extension cord


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## JulianStuart

Edinburgher said:


> But it only has one plug. It should be multi-socket.


But you can plug multiple plugs in to it.

This is an extension cord

This is a power strip (outlet strip)


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## Myridon

sb70012 said:


> How about in AmE? What do Americans call these two in the US?
> 
> View attachment 47631View attachment 47632


Extension cord.  Power strip.


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## kentix

Regarding #12.

Extension cord on the left. Power strip on the right.

If the one on the right includes the ability to protect from power surges, it would generally be called a surge protector. It would also normally be a bit bigger, because the extra circuitry that defends against the power surges needs some space.


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## natkretep

I can call both extension cables. And I might add 'with multiple sockets' for the one on the right.


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## Roymalika

This is different from the OP's. What this is called? 
Thanks.


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> This is different from the OP's. What *is* this is called?


It's the same thing.


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## Edinburgher

Barque said:


> It's the same thing.


It is and it isn't.  Its key feature, absent in the original, is that its sockets accept a variety of styles of plug.
I might call it something like an adapter extension.  In practice, depending on context, it may not be necessary to mention this feature, so often you could just call it whatever you call the one in the OP.


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## ewie

sb70012 said:


> View attachment 47611
> Hello,
> Look at this picture please. What do you call it? Do you call it an extension cord?


_Multi-plug extension_.

#18: _three-plug extension._


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## Loob

I'd call the items in sb's and Roymalika's pictures _extension leads. _ If I wanted to be more specific, I'd call sb's a _6-way extension lead_, and Roymalika's a _3-way extension lead_.


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## Roymalika

In BE, can the thing in #18 simply be called "extension" or "lead"? 
Where I live, some people call it "extension" and some people call it "lead". 
I haven't heard "extension lead".


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## Edinburgher

Loob said:


> I'd call sb's a _6-way extension lead_, and Roymalika's a _3-way extension lead_.


You need to click on the images to get a full-size view.  The key difference is not just the number of ways. #18 is non-standard in that its sockets can mate with plugs from more than one species. Actually, I think even the one in #1 is non-standard. Although its sockets seem to be single-species, its plug is of a different species.


Roymalika said:


> In BE, can the thing in #18 simply be called "extension" or "lead"?


Yes, I could call it "extension" or "extension lead", but would probably not call it just "lead".


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## sb70012

natkretep said:


> I might add 'with multiple sockets' for the one on the right.


Do I need to add an apostrophe after the ending s of sockets?

I mean => multiple sockets' extension cable?


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## Barque

It's "multiple socket extension cable". The first two words act as an adjective, and you need the singular "socket", even if you're referring to multiple ones.


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## Kimaunz

Barque said:


> It's "multiple socket extension cable". The first two words act as an adjective, and you need the singular "socket", even if you're referring to multiple ones.


If the first two words are something like an adjective, I think 'multiple-socket extention cable' or 'multiple-socket extention cord' would be better.


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## Barque

Perhaps you're right. But it's "extension", not "extention".


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## Kimaunz

Barque said:


> Perhaps you're right. But it's "extension", not "extention".


You're right. It was a typo. Sorry.


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## Roxxxannne

To me, 'extension cord' (as I call them in my version of AmE) is something with one male plug at one end and one female socket at the other.   There are also splitters, with two sockets and one plug.   Those two things can be combined to make a one-piece 'extension cord with splitter.'   As regards power strips, to me the crucial thing is not the presence of the cord, but the arrangement whereby one can send power simultaneously into several sockets, and thence to several devices.  So I call those things either a 'power strip' or 'a power strip with an extension cord' depending on whether they have an extenral cord or they plug right into the wall socket.


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## sb70012

ewie said:


> _Multi-plug extension_.
> #18: _three-plug extension._


Don't you think that you should use the word "socket" instead of "plug"?


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## JulianStuart

sb70012 said:


> Don't you think that you should use the word "socket" instead of "plug"?


But you can plug multiple plugs in to it.


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## DonnyB

sb70012 said:


> Do I need to add an apostrophe after the ending s of sockets?
> 
> I mean => multiple sockets' extension cable?


No, you don't: it's wrong to use an apostrophe.  It's an extension cable _with_ multiple sockets (sometimes we call them "multi-socket" especially the ones incorporating a phone connection as well as a mains power).


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## Roymalika

DonnyB said:


> No, you don't: it's wrong to use an apostrophe.  It's an extension cable _with_ multiple sockets (sometimes we call them "multi-socket" especially the ones incorporating a phone connection as well as a mains power).


Am I right in saying that all the following names can be used for the thing in post #18? 

- extension lead
- extension cable
- extension cord
- extension
- lead
- power strip
- cable


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## DonnyB

Roymalika said:


> Am I right in saying that all the following names can be used for the thing in post #18?
> 
> - extension lead
> - extension cable
> - extension cord
> - extension
> - lead
> - power strip
> - cable


Not really.

Neither "lead" nor "cable" on their own convey the idea that the purpose of the thing is basically to make an existing lead _longer_.  We don't use "cord" much in BE, although it's not wrong, and I wouldn't personally use "power strip" although somebody else I think said they thought it was okay.


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## Roymalika

DonnyB said:


> Neither "lead" nor "cable" on their own convey the idea that the purpose of the thing is basically to make an existing lead _longer_


What are you referring to as an existing lead?


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## DonnyB

Roymalika said:


> What are you referring to as an existing lead?


The lead that's attached to whatever you plug into it.


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## Roymalika

DonnyB said:


> The lead that's attached to whatever you plug into it.



Are you referring to this part (marked red) as "lead"?


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## DonnyB

Roymalika said:


> Are you referring to this part (marked red) as "lead"?
> View attachment 47709


That's a "lead", yes.  A version of that thing in the picture with a plug on one end, and just one socket on the other would be called a simple "extension lead".


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## Roymalika

Thanks. But


DonnyB said:


> Neither "lead" nor "cable" on their own convey the idea that the purpose of the thing is basically to make an existing lead _longer_.


I don't understand what you're saying here. What do you mean when you say "the purpose of this thing is to make an existing lead longer"? Can you please explain a bit?


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## DonnyB

Well, I'm sorry, but we're drifting well off-topic here:  explaining what the purpose of those things is isn't altogether relevant to what they're _called_ and it isn't any case a language question.


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## sb70012

JulianStuart said:


> But you can plug multiple plugs in to it.


Does "Multiple-socket extension" also work to mean the same thing?


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## Roymalika

DonnyB said:


> Not really.
> 
> Neither "lead" nor "cable" on their own convey the idea that the purpose of the thing is basically to make an existing lead _longer_.  We don't use "cord" much in BE, although it's not wrong, and I wouldn't personally use "power strip" although somebody else I think said they thought it was okay.


So in that list only these are used in BE for the thing shown in #18? 
- extension lead
- extension cable
- extension


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## DonnyB

sb70012 said:


> Does "Multiple-socket extension" also work to mean the same thing?


I'd have called it a "Multiple-socket extension* lead*" but otherwise, yes.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Note that "extension lead" (or indeed a "lead" of any kind in this context) would mean nothing to most speakers of American English.  I would also reject the answer given by sami in post #13, which I find bizarre and unfamiliar.  In American English as I know it, and as Myridon saaid in post #15,  the yellow item is a _heavy-duty extension cord_, and the white item is a _power strip._


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## DonnyB

Roymalika said:


> So in that list only these are used in BE for the thing shown in #18?
> - extension lead
> - extension cable
> - extension


I thought I'd answered that in post #35, unless another speaker of BE wants to chip in.


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## Cagey

This thread provides enough options.  
It is now closed. 

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Cagey, 
moderator


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