David Nebenzahl wrote in news:49c70be6$0$29970$ snipped-for-privacy@news.adtechcomputers.com:
That got me thinking a bit. In this case there's more than convention though. The land is an extension of the shore, so onshore means coming in from the sea (if it was already moving over land before reaching the coast, calling it onshore at the critical moment when it no longer was, would be pointless). That could still be open to convention, but if you're on land, what matters is where the wind comes from, once it's past you it's someone elses business. At sea it's the other way round, no matter where it comes from, it's always more important where it's going because if it's strong enough to be hazardous, where it goes, so must you, to some extent at least.
That critical aspect isn't just me digressing for fun. It explains why conventions in HV systems are far more critically observed. Once people lives are at stake, they tend to agree and accept conventions.
But for domestic hifi cabling and such, all bets are off. Never mind plug/socket, male/female. If you don't specify exactly whether you mean the two connectors on the adaptive section, or the one on each of the separate links that adaptive section is meant to bridge, then all the rest has as much basis as up and down if you're in freefall. I think most people specify that first, from what I've seen, so people instinctively know the need to be met. But that works by talking, seeing, touching even, it won't work on an online order form.
*sleeps before I turn into a little blob of literalistic goo*