A simple electrical connection formed by laying two or more stripped wires side by side and twisting them into a single braid. This joint offers good electrical contact but poor mechanical strength, so it is almost always secured and insulated by twisting a wire nut over the top.
Heard on the job
Strip them back an inch, twist a clean rat-tail splice, and cap it with a red wire nut.
Also heard as
- pigtail splice
- twist splice
Do not mix it up with
- Western Union splice: A rat-tail splice joins wires pointing in the same direction, while a Western Union splice joins wires end-to-end.