Old receptacles can pose a problem. Loose connections and the lack of grounding are among the problems that appear. Let's discuss the disadvantages of two-slot receptacles in the home. You know the type, right. They are the two-pronged outlets without a ground connection. The ones you either have cut the ground terminal off of the cord in order to plug it in or the one you stuck in an adapter plug to allow the cord to be plugged into the outlet.
Receptacles, often referred to as outlets, come in many different styles. Two-slot receptacles have only two slots, a hot and a neutral. The smaller slot is connected to brass-colored terminal and is the hot wire connection. The longer slot is connected to the silver-colored terminal and is the neutral connection. This means they have no ground slot, making them much more unsafe than the newer, updated versions that include a ground slot. You see, if correctly wired, meaning the hot wire is connected to the smaller tab connection terminal and the neutral wire is connected to the larger tab connection terminal, most codes will allow their continued use. But, are they wired correctly?
Source: http://electrical.about.com/b/2012/09/09/polarized-outlets-unsafe.htm
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