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First of all, in North America, the typical p[ower supply is NOT 2
phase. It is center tapped single phase. You have a line1, a line2 and
a neutral - the neutral being shared between the two lines. If the
load is ballanced between the 2 "sides" there is no current in the
neutral. The neutral is regerenced to ground for safety reasons.

In early reural electrification in the USA, single wire distribution
was used - using "earth return" It worked, but was fraught with
problems, and is virtually unheard of today..


You might as well forget trying to explain that in most of the US the power
comes in to the house as a split single phase. Also that unlike a car and
much of the electronics where the frame/ground is often part of the circuit,
the AC power does not use the ground for anything but safety and not one
return leg. There are a couple on here that will never get it.