I was a bit sloppy in my terms using "ground" instead of
"grounded." The NEC has and probably still calls the wire
that goes which serves to replace the earth a "grounded"
wire. This grounded wire is white. Some (maybe a lot of)
people call it the neutral, but that's gives a false
impression since in AC since current flows both ways. The
wire that you call a safety ground is the "grounding" wire.
I don't have a current NEC so maybe these terms have
changed.

If you attach a 12/3 romex at the breaker box and a
receptacle at the other line, the grounded and the grounding
wire will be identical electrically identical since they are
both the same size and the same length. There is no
difference it how you hook appliance to the wires that is
different.

w_tom wrote:

Neutral wire and ground wire are NOT - repeat NOT - the same. Yes
they both meet a common bus in breaker box. But it is wrong and it is
dangerous to advocate safety ground and neutral as same. Wire is not a
perfect conductor. Electrically speaking, there is always a difference
between both ends of a wire. Neutral (white) wire and safety ground
wire may be electrically same at breaker box end BUT are electrically
different at wall receptacle.

George E. Cawthon wrote:

Another term for the neutral wire is "ground." The
neutral(ground) is bonded to the green wire at the box. The
green wire in older stuff (maybe still) is called the
"grounding" wire.