What does 14- 2 tell an electrician?

Answer 1

12

Answer 2

-- there are 2 wires in that cord

-- each of them is a 14-guage wire; (if he wants to, he can look up 14-guage

wire and see how much current it can safely handle without heating up)

-- it's an old extension cord, from the days when plugs and sockets only had

two prongs, and extension cords only had 2 wires

-- the cord should be replaced with a newer one that has a ground wire in it

and a 3-prong plug on it.