In North America, The different shapes of plug for the same voltage represent different current-carrying capacities for the wires they’re attached to. There ar

In North America, The different shapes of plug for the same voltage represent different current-carrying capacities for the wires they’re attached to. There are twist-lock and non-locking versions of each. If you’re using an adapter to plug a high-current device into a low-current socket, there is a risk of fire from putting too much current through the in-wall wiring. Tripping a circuit breaker is more likely, though. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector for lots of detail.