Female USB-A to Male USB-C The first thing you should buy—and you should probably buy in bulk—is a dongle that converts a USB-A cord into a USB-C one. USB-A is the port style you think of as USB.

Read more: 5 USB-C Gadgets Every MacBook User Should Know About Here's the quick and clean breakdown: a male USB connector is the plug — the part that sticks out and gets inserted. A female USB ...

and have a USB-A female/USB-C male adapter, but I'm trying to remember whether I would also have among my assorted junk a short USB cable with standard male A-type connectors on both ends.

You're not alone. Despite the oddly anatomical terminology, the difference between male and female USB ports is purely mechanical, and knowing which is which can save you from a lot of head ...