Mail: the past and the present days

The Englishmen claim that the word “mail” comes from the Medievel English word “male” (spelt that way until the 17th century), that was the term used to describe a travelling pack or bag. Even in the French we find a similar word “malle” (a trunk or large box). In the 19th century the British usually referred to mail as being letters that were being sent abroad (i.e. on a ship), and post as letters that were for localized delivery. The term e-mail first appeared in 1982. The term snail-mail is a retronym that originated in 1983 to distinguish it from the quicker e-mail. The term didn’t exist until electronic mail (e-mail) became so prevalent that there was a requirement to differentiate the two. Obviously, the term was invented by e-mail aficionados as a small barb directed at the relative slowness of physical transportation. In general, mail is a system wherein written documents typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages containing other matter, are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post. When we talk about modern mail we mean special national or private services which deal with international regulations, organizations and international agreements and keep the rules. In ancient times messages and epistles delivered by messengers. Nowadays there are a great number of privates companies such as FedEx and UPS which deliver the mail undertime. These companies compete with each other and with the federal or governmental services. As a rule a mail company has to bear the same standards all over the world. These are international postage rates, standards for postage stamps, postcodes, the system of International Reply Coupons. The main feature a country bears is a special code. The system of codes has been created so to facilitate the automation of operations. They are called ZIP Codes in the United States, postcodes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and postal codes in most other countries. Bar coding of mail for delivery is usually expressed either by a series of POSTPONE coding or a two-dimensional barcode. It is widely used air mail that supplements the ordinary mail. We trust our feelings, ideas and just messages to mail services Postage Stamps