This week’s theme
Words related to mail

This week’s words
snail mail
greenmail
postal
mailed fist
graymail

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(POHS-tuhl)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Relating to the mail or the post office.
2. Very angry, insane, or violent.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French poste, from the posting of horse riders at intervals to transport letters along a route. Earliest documented use: sense 1: 1842, sense 2: 1993.

NOTES:

In the 1980s and 1990s, a series of unconnected shootings by disgruntled workers of the US Postal Service (USPS) led to the phrase “going postal”. This term highlights extreme anger or violence, gaining prominence despite the homicide rate at USPS being only a fraction of that in the general workplace. With over half a million employees at the USPS, these incidents notably stood out.

USAGE:

“‘I still have every expectation that you’ll be nominated by the White House and confirmed by the Senate as the youngest woman on the federal appeals bench, to say nothing of the prettiest.’ ...
‘Any more flattery like that today and I’ll go postal.’”
Elizabeth Lowell; The Wrong Hostage; Avon; 2006.

See more usage examples of postal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: