Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority, compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as not being acceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by a government or other organization as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who have done something wrong. As a verb, blacklist can mean to put an individual or entity on such a list. == Origins of the term == The English dramatist Philip Massinger used the phrase "black list" in his 1639 tragedy The Unnatural Combat.After...

In electrical and mechanical trades and manufacturing, each half of a pair of mating connectors or fasteners is conventionally assigned the designation male or female. The "female" connector is generally a receptacle that receives and holds the "male" connector. On occasion, the terms "male" and "female" are respectively referred to as the A and B ends, though the names of some standards conflict with this as they contain the letters A or B within the name. Sometimes the less ambiguous terms plug and socket or jack are used, particularly in reference to electrical connectors.The assignment is a...