Origin
The terms tip and ring originated in the early days of telephony, when human telephone operators used phone plugs to connect customer calls. The names of the wires are derived from the part of the plug to which they are connected. The words are often abbreviated as T and R in wiring diagrams. While the ring is connected to −48 volts, the tip is connected to ground for safety. This is because when the telephone operator is handling the plug, the tip is more likely to touch something other than intended.
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Famous quotes containing the word origin:
“For, though the origin of most of our words is forgotten, each word was at first a stroke of genius, and obtained currency, because for the moment it symbolized the world to the first speaker and to the hearer. The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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“Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other.”
—Neal Cassady (1926–1968)