YALP! (kinda)

[gnomi]

[Poll #1097903]

Comments

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

This one may be more age-related than geography-related. We old fogies who remember the introduction of the Zoning Improvement Plan (even if we didn't live through the transition) will think of it as an acronym, while those punk kids today probably think it's a word for "fast". And they spell it z1p.

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

I agree - I remember when they were implemented, so to me it'll always be ZIP.

[seborn.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's fixed in my head as an acronym, but when asked for what, I stare blankly and make something up.

[gingicat]

Or just sheer pedantry, for those of us who don't remember. :)

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

It was Zone Improvement Plan, not "Zoning," IIRC.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Now where's that "edit my comment" button? :-)

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

heh. the ability to edit comments might be just what it takes to finally tip me over into getting a paid account.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I have never had a clue what it was an acronym FOR, but I was aware that it's an acronym.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

The nap question is part of why I love you!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

::snerk::

I *knew* there were fabric geeks on my friends list, but I always forget who.

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

I kinda lied, in that I consider nap worth it in the case of velvet and velveteen, because I'm a texture fiend.

[toonhead-npl.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you how many times I've designed a form or a brochure for someone where I go in and make it "ZIP Code" and they turn around and change it back to "Zip Code" even after I explain.

*sigh*

[tmcay.livejournal.com]

ZIP Codes are often included in the Community Information guides my department produces. The all-cap formatting is strictly enforced.

Toon, do you remember an animated PSA from the '70s in which an envelope without a ZIP Code is being sorted at a post office? The letter states that it doesn't need a ZIP because it is address is only across town, but it ends up in a lost-letter bin anyway.

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

none of the above - it's a *post code*, no 'al' on the postal.

I think of the US equivalent as 'zip code' but am probably an unreliable source.

[fadagaski.livejournal.com]

Ditto. A UK thing?

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

absolutely ;D

[sethg]

"ZIP Code" is a registered trademark of the United States Postal Service.

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

So what's the general lapse after which the transition from upcap to downcap becomes generally acceptable? I mean, no one really seems to prescribe LASER rather than laser or RADAR rather than radar (that I've noticed).

And is there a standard phrasing to say that something is a registered-but-expired trademark of so-and-so?

[half-double.livejournal.com]

I know it's ZIP because of my occupation, not because of where I accquired my language. I always thought it was "zip" until I started working here and had to start using the USPS website a lot to look up said codes. Their look-up page has "ZIP" 4 different times in really big letters. It sinks in. Eventually.

[abbasegal.livejournal.com]

I know it is an acronym "ZIP" but that doesn't stop me from thinking of it as "zip".

Perhaps I have been influenced by the Practical Extraction and Reporting Language, aka perl.

Or perhaps the Generic Regular Expression Parser, aka grep, or just unix culture in general, which tends to like lower-case words.