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snail mail
" Getting snail mail is one of my favorite indulgences, and I think receiving mail is actually a common joy."
Mary Lambert

Meaning of "snail mail" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SNAIL MAIL

So named because of the relative slowness of the conventional postal system.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF SNAIL MAIL

snail mail


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SNAIL MAIL

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Snail mail is a verb and can also act as a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

WHAT DOES SNAIL MAIL MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Snail mail

Snail mail or smail —named after the snail with its slow speed—refers to letters and missives carried by conventional postal delivery services. Also named after the "snail-trail" used to glue the envelope. The phrase refers to the lag-time between dispatch of a letter and its receipt, versus the virtually instantaneous dispatch and delivery of its electronic equivalent, e-mail. It is also known, more neutrally, as paper mail, postal mail, land mail, or simply mail and post. An earlier term of the same type is surface mail, coined retrospectively after the development of airmail. This happened between the 1970s to 1990s. Snail mail penpals are those penpals that communicate with one another through the postal system, rather than on the internet which has become the more common medium. Some online groups also use paper mail through regular gift or craft hot topics. In some countries, services are available to print and deliver emails to those unable to receive email, like people with no computers or internet access. Similar terminology was used in the 1840s to contrast the already-operating postal mail with the new telegraph.

Definition of snail mail in the English dictionary

The definition of snail mail in the dictionary is the conventional postal system, as opposed to electronic mail. Other definition of snail mail is to send by the conventional postal system, rather than by electronic mail.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SNAIL MAIL

snaggiest · snagging · snaggleteeth · snaggletooth · snaggletoothed · snaggy · snaglike · snags · snail · snail cam · snail shell · snail-like · snail-mail · snail´s pace · snailery · snailfish · snaily · snake · snake charmer · snake dance

WORDS THAT END LIKE SNAIL MAIL

airmail · blackmail · certified mail · chain mail · coat of mail · direct mail · e-mail · electronic mail · express mail · fan mail · hate mail · junk mail · mail · metered mail · nixie mail · remail · snail-mail · surface mail · voice mail · webmail

Synonyms and antonyms of snail mail in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «snail mail» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF SNAIL MAIL

Find out the translation of snail mail to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of snail mail from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «snail mail» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

蜗牛邮件
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

correo postal
570 millions of speakers
en

English

snail mail
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

घोंघा मेल
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

البريد العادي
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

почта улитки
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

correio
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

শামুক মেল
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

snail mail
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

surat Siput
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Post
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

カタツムリ郵便
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

달팽이 메일
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Snail mail
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

mail ốc
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

நத்தை மின்னஞ்சல்
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

गोगलगाय मेल
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

Salyangoz posta
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

snail mail
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

snail Mail
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

пошта равлики
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

poștă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ταχυδρομείο
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

slakkepos
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

snigelpost
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

brevpost
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of snail mail

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SNAIL MAIL»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of snail mail
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «snail mail».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about snail mail

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «SNAIL MAIL»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word snail mail.
1
Mary Lambert
Getting snail mail is one of my favorite indulgences, and I think receiving mail is actually a common joy.
2
Diane Lane
I love the rebelliousness of snail mail, and I love anything that can arrive with a postage stamp. There's something about that person's breath and hands on the letter.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SNAIL MAIL»

Discover the use of snail mail in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to snail mail and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Snail Mail No More
Now that they live in different cities, thirteen-year-old Tara and Elizabeth use email to "talk" about everything that is occuring in their lives and to try to maintain their closeness as they face big changes.
Paula Danziger, Ann M. Martin, 2000
2
Snail Mail My Email: Handwritten Letters in a Digital World
Snail Mail My Email is a collection of the most memorable letters and moments from the project, and a reminder of the power of personal connection in a world of instant communication.
Ivan Cash, 2012
3
What Is Snail Mail?: The Lost Art of Letterwriting
This book also is a resource for where to find pen pals on the internet and off line resources such as news letters, magaizines etc.
Tamara Stevens, 2004
4
Snail Mail
A snail changes its eating habits, settling on the mail in the mail box until becoming too fond of the homeowner for that.
Hazel Edwards, 1991
5
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Resume
Snail. Mail. If you have plenty of time before the application deadline, the U.S. Postal Service (fondly referred to as snail mail) is a great and fairly reliable way to send your resume and ...
Susan Ireland, 2003
6
101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site: Filled with Proven ...
It is perceived as being more personal than snail mail and can go quite a long way in building relationships. E-mail Program versus Mail List Software The time has come where mail list software is essential for sending mass, permission- based ...
Susan Sweeney, 2006
7
Implementing Email and Security Tokens: Current Standards, ...
Table 2-2 Snail Mail and Email Process Similarities STEP SNAIL MAIL EMAIL Compose Alice pulls out pen and paper and writes her letter. Alice either starts a dedicated email application or a web browser to compose her email message.
Sean Turner, Russ Housley, 2008
8
The Fine Artist's Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion: ...
the snail mail no more than thirty days unless otherwise requested or determined by the local postmaster, who may make exceptions. You must present an I.D. to receive the mail. If you were to have an exhibit in, for example, Tampa, Florida, ...
Julius Vitali, 2003
9
Everyday Letters for Busy People: Hundreds of Samples You ...
Hundreds of Samples You Can Adapt at a Moment's Notice : Invitations and Resignations, Complaints and Condolences, E-mail and Snail Mail, and More Debra Hart May, Regina McAloney ...
Debra Hart May, Regina McAloney, 2004
10
Morphology and Its Demarcations: Selected Papers from the ...
Reconsidering the example in (18), snail mail, we can verify that the non-head snail retains only one feature of its meaning in isolation, namely, slowness. All the remaining encyclopaedic features associated with snail (e.g. the fact that snails ...
Wolfgang U. Dressler, 2005

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SNAIL MAIL»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term snail mail is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Snail mail slows down even more
Figures from the Postal Service show drops in on-time delivery for first-class stamped mail for the first three months of this year when compared to the same time ... «Florida Times-Union, May 15»
2
Snail mail: It's the busiest shipping day of the year
That's 33 million more pieces of mail than the busiest mail day last year, and more than 100 million above what the USPS handles on a typical day (528 million), ... «Rick Kupchella's BringMeTheNews, Dec 14»
3
Postal Service to close 82 more centers, slowing some mail delivery
Snail mail is about to get even slower. The Postal Service, caught in a vortex of plummeting mail volume and brutal expenses, will close 82 more processing ... «Kansas City Star, Nov 14»
4
Snail mail is even slower now with Postal Service changes, report says
First-class mail has been taking longer to reach its destination since the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service relaxed its delivery standards in an attempt to ... «Washington Post, Oct 14»
5
The US Government Is Suddenly Way, Way More Interested In …
Old-fashioned mail, the kind sent through the U.S. Post Office, has fallen out of fashion; ... But the surveillance state's interest in snail mail has shot up massively. «The Intercept - First Look Media, Oct 14»
6
Are you ready to abandon snail mail?
Australia Post wants to stop delivering the mail every day, do you care? ... I'd say we're certainly not at the point where we can scrap snail mail completely. «Sydney Morning Herald, May 14»
7
They Don't Call It Snail Mail For Nothing! Brooklyn Woman Receives …
WHOA! No wonder everyone uses email! Imagine having to wait this long! Susan Heifetz, a Brooklyn woman, got the surprise of a lifetime when the post office ... «PerezHilton.com, Apr 14»
8
Sorry Jimmy Carter, the Government Monitors Snail Mail Too
Former President Jimmy Carter said on Sunday that he uses "snail mail" to dodge the NSA. "As a matter of fact, you know, I have felt that my own ... «Motherboard, Mar 14»
9
Jimmy Carter uses 'snail-mail' to thwart NSA
Carter said that he resorts to old-fashion snail mail to try to thwart the prying eyes of the National Security Agency, whose massive data-collection program was ... «New York Post, Mar 14»
10
Snail Mail Will Cost You More In The New Year
Empty crates sit next to a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail box in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. The U.S. Postal Service said its net loss last year ... «CBS Local, Dec 13»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Snail mail [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/snail-mail>. May 2024 ».
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