Thread: Ahh! The Precision of Language!

Lesson: The Importance of Precision of Language

Master: Student, please hand me the 12/3 with ground.
Student: Do you mean 12/4?
Master: No. 12/3 with ground. 4 conductors.
Student: Why is it not called 12/4? Does it not have 4 conductors within it that are all sized the same?
Master: Never mind. Hand me a couple of three-way switches to be controlled from two locations.
Student: Oh great master, surely you must mean three locations?
Master: No. I would have asked you for a four-way switch and a couple of three-way switches if I had been talking about three locations.
Student: Oh, I get it. So for a five-way location I would need four switches.
Master: No. You would need two three-ways and three four-ways.
Student: So for a three-way location I need two switches and a four-way location I need three switches. But if I were to use four switches it would not be a five-way?
Master: No. It would be a four-way just like two three-ways and one four-way.
Master: Where are you going, my Student?
Student: To become a Lawyer, Politician or Mathematician.


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How true. Very funny, thanks for the post.

I remember replacing my first four way light switch setup. I went out and bought three new four way switches to replace the existing ones. It was then that I realized that it uses one four way and two three ways. Back to the store for another trip. Another lesson learned.