this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
272 points (96.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

35398 readers
1667 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

No seriously, I always get blank stares when I ask people, I've called them wall chargers or power bricks, my friend called them plug chargers, my fiancee calls them dongles. What do you call these around your house, like when you're asking someone if they've seen any (______)'s

(page 3) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

Charging brick. I don't think I've ever heard them called anything else besides a charger.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Damage@feddit.it 4 points 1 month ago

USB charger

[–] stinky@redlemmy.com 4 points 1 month ago

"wall block"

[–] anothermember@feddit.uk 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'd call them USB adapters; "chargers" is probably slightly more common though never sat right with me since they can be used to power things other than charging.

Or more in the past we would call any kind of power adapters "transformers" but don't seem to hear that much any more.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Technically they are power supplies.

A transformer can be a power supply, but on it's own it can only transform AC power between two different voltages, so it can only be an AC:AC power supply. The number of windings on one side vs the number on the other, will determine the ratio of your voltage change.

But a pure transformer AC:AC power supply is not particularly efficient. A transformer's power rating is based on the overall number of windings it has, and on the power frequency.

So if you're lowering the voltage, it's more efficient to use mosfets to chop up your voltage at a very high frequency, then run that high frequency voltage through a smaller transformer.

And with DC power supplies, they not only need to lower voltage, but also smooth it out to a single unchanging value, and this results in an even more complex circuit where you first rectify the wave so that it's all on one side, then you chop it at high frequency then transform it, then smooth it out.

So transformers are still involved, but typically they're just one part of a larger whole with these.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Adapters for upgrading your home’s firmware.

[–] Tangerine@scribe.disroot.org 4 points 1 month ago

Wall block USB wall block

Most of the time, we just call it block , I’ve never heard of wall wart. Today I learned…

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago
[–] rarsamx@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

USB charger.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Isn't it a mobile charger?

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Resol@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Charging brick, or power adapter.

I can't think of a better term for these.

[–] Leonixster@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Squares

The wonders of spanish

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

Plugs?

It appears the manufacturers call them power adapters

[–] grapefruittrouble@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

cube or charging cube

[–] crystalmerchant@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Charger block

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 3 points 1 month ago
[–] 7eter@feddit.org 3 points 1 month ago

USB-Power-Supply

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

Now that you make me think about it I think I've been calling them different names depending on what I intended to use them for, most of the time (I'm translating) I call them phone charger but I also called the power supply or usb power supply when I wanted to power something else.

Never thought about it.

[–] hogmomma@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Everything you said was except for dongle. I absolutely would not accept that in my household.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

USB bricks or USB chargers

[–] FarrellPerks@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago

Plug adapter - UK

USB wall adaptor

[–] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago
[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Chakra, Charging brick, power adapter

[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

USB chargers

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In my house, we call them butt plugs.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›