2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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snail-mail
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. Paper mail, as opposed to electronic. Sometimes written as the single
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word SnailMail. One's postal address is, correspondingly, a snail address.
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Derives from earlier coinage USnail (from U.S. Mail ), for which there have
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even been parody posters and stamps made. Also (less commonly) called P-mail
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, from paper mail or physical mail. Oppose email. (Note: Actual garden
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snails progress at about 10 meters per hour, which is about 25-50 times
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slower than the U.K.'s Royal Mail; comparable measurements for other
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countries have not yet been made. More biologically apt terms might be
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sloth-mail at 250 m/hr or tortoise-mail at 270 m/hr. See
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http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/answers/789communication.jsp?tp=communication
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for details.
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