edee em wrote:
I have been replacing the outlets in my living room/dining
room. I thought I had it but my circuit tester (plug in type
that shows different combinations of lights) is showing no
lights lit and a message of "open hot" on the legend. I lost
my instructions to decipher what this means. What should I be
looking for to correct this?

It means the outlet is dead. Perhaps the black wire is disconnected or
the circuit breaker is blown.

These testers check three things;

1. lamp 1 on -- voltage exists between HOT and NEUTRAL
2. lamp 2 on -- voltage exists between HOT and GROUND
3. lamp 3 off -- no voltage exists between NEUTRAL and GROUND

Note:

HOT = narrow blade = black wire
NEUTRAL = wide blade = white wire
GROUND = rounded blade = bare wire