Postal Abbreviations - 8 July 2009

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A Way with Words

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🗓️ 8 July 2009

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What's the deal with using the two-letter postal code abbreviations for states, instead of the longer, more formal abbreviations? That is, why write IN for Indiana instead of good old Ind.? A caller is annoyed by U.S. Postal Service abbreviations creeping into modern prose, and thinks they should be reserved for postal addresses. -- Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time: Email: [email protected] Phone: United States toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673 London +44 20 7193 2113 Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771 Site: http://waywordradio.org. Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/ Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/ Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Skype: skype://waywordradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:46.0	Welcome to another mini-cast from Away with Words. I'm Grant Barrett.
0:49.0	We're still on summer hiatus preparing for a new season in the fall, but in the meantime we've got some
0:54.3	bonus content for you. Steve called us from Fishers, Indiana to explain a peeve. What is the deal with people
1:01.2	using the two-letter postal code abbreviations for states?
1:04.7	That is, why would someone use I-N with no period to abbreviate Indiana instead of I-N-D
1:10.8	period?
1:11.8	Shouldn't the postal abbreviations only be used for addresses?
1:15.0	I'm curious as to what gets to you about it. Is it just the visual? Is it an aesthetic thing?
1:22.0	You don't like the capital letters or you miss
1:24.0	the period or what? Well I think partially it's this sort of government
1:29.7	agency has decided that they wanted this shorthand to help their mail go through quicker and it seems
1:36.2	to have replaced what has always been traditional. I can see that.
1:44.0	And actually, for a long time, I felt exactly the same way.
1:46.0	They're best used in conjunction with the city, which should provide more clarity there.
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