Male and Female tool names

[Lelophants]

I am fully expecting to be told I am ridiculous for this. Maybe I find it so odd because I haven't grown up with this knowledge.

I've done the odd bit of DIY but tbh nothing major. Dh is pretty good (FIL ex builder) so does most of those tasks. Only recently did I find out that tools which have a long bit that go into something else are known as 'male' and the bits with holes are called 'female'. How did I not know this for so long?! And for some reason I really dont like it 😂

I tried to explain to dh why I found it so weird. I think it just seems unnecessarily sexual and the fact that something with a hole is known as female. Dh said he never really thought of it and had called them that from a little boy. Am I the only one who finds it weird and maybe even a bit sexist? Like how would you explain that to a little boy?

I've also since found out the bottom bricks are called female because the male goes on top.

There are so many different tools and bits and pieces and for all things with holes to be like "can you pass me the female one" for some reason it just makes me shudder!

AIBU? or just a pride?

I first heard this terminology when a very po-faced and humourless gas engineer came to my house. He was showing me what the problem had been: the male part hadn’t been screwed properly into the female part.
I was making all those weird noises in my throat trying not to laugh as I nodded sagely!

I agree, though, OP... every time I hear these terms I expect the speaker to do a Sid James like dirty laugh afterwards! It’s so... explicit!

It's not really a sex reference. No one is fucking the socket with the plug

Then what is the explanation for the parts being “male” and “female”?

@Lelophants

Yeah but why male/female?

Well when a Mummy and a Daddy love each other.....