When you say "standard plug," do you mean the kind of plug that you find on a common appliance like a toaster, computer, or alarm clock?

If so, the answer is definitely no. Your 6-20R receptacle provides electricity at 240 volts. Very few household appliances run at 240 volts (some ACs, ovens/ranges, and some electric clothes driers). A "standard receptacle" provides electricity at 120 volts. So, if you rigged up some type of adapter to plug in a TV to the 6-20R, you would deliver 240V to a device that is designed for 120V. You will draw twice the amount of current that the device is designed for and you will surely destroy it. NEMA designed the plug/receptacle scheme to act as a key/lock system to prevent this very thing.

Having said that, it is possible to get 120V from a 6-20R, by only using one blade and the ground pin. This is also a bad idea because it forces the ground conductor to regularly carry current, which it is definitely not designed to do. Also, for reasons I'm not going to get into, if you have 208V instead of 240V, then you have to know which blade of the 6-20R to connect to, in order to get 120V. The other blade will deliver an incorrect voltage and most likely destroy the appliance.

Up until now, I've played along and pretended that we are talking about air conditioners. Since we both know that we're really discussing male enlargement devices, I think we can agree that a good rule of thumb is: If the plug doesn't fit in the receptacle, don't screw around with trying to make it work.

heh. you caught me, but your story is off. I've actually aquired John Dillinger's penis (long story, but I know people at the Smithsonian) and Tutankhamun's nads (Howard Carter was a family friend). I've rigged a crane to hoist me to the roof in the middle of an electrical storm for my mad scientist plot to create FRANKENPENIS! all I need is a little more electrical power for me to be able to scream...

He's ALIVE!!!!!!!

Okay, I know I'm a girl and all, but all I can say (un-technically) is this:
I lived in a house with two 110V circuits.
I plugged in AC's (don't remember the BTU's) with an adapter b/c the AC had a three-pronged plug and the outlet, well, did not. Did this for four summers, with no obvious damage.
(btw...whatever the BTU's were, it wasn't enough--perhaps that's why it never blew the wiring :) )

(and yes, I *am* talking air conditioners, here)

p.s. only one AC per circuit, for a grand total of two in a rather large 2br, second floor apt
(which is perhaps another reason it was still hot as Hades).

yeah, I've done all the mathey stuff. for the past 6 years I've gotten by with a 5000 btu in the bedroom. Not nearly enough, great big bedroom. as long as I kept it below 90 degrees I was happy. so last year I scored an ancient 12000 btu and moved into the living room and conditioned the rest of the apartment instead. it worked, but I fried 2prong/3prong adapter... totally melted and scared the hell out of me. I've had it shutting off half of my apartment, withering away in whatever room I've boarded myself into, or trying to push it and potentially cause a fire. So I'm going to spend the cash, FINALLY be comfortable this summer and use that dedicated plug for heavy duty conditioners. According to the BTU calculators, I'm going to need 20,000 BTUs to do it right.

Perhaps you can meld you your mad scientist designs and your democratic leanings by creating AlFrankenPenis.

hmmm. I dunno? if alfrankenpenis tried to force me to listen to Air America Radio, I think I might have to unleash an angry mob of torch wielding Romanians on him. don’t get me wrong, I think Al Franken is funny as balls, and I’ll admit to agreeing with him more often than not; but partizan spin makes me want to vomit, whether it is coming from the left or from the right. this may be biased, but I hold the left up to too a high standard to be able to stomach those kinds of half-truths and double-talk.

I’m not the sort that gets off listening to radio personalities reinforcing my prejudges. Political radio is for closed minded ass wipes.