ZIP codes

[Mike Christie <mikec -at- SYNTEL -dot- COM>]

Margaret Girard says "I remember thinking...if you used the code the
mail would be delivered fast, i.e. with zip and if you didn't, it
wouldn't"

That's exactly right, and is exactly what the US Postal Service wanted,
and still wants, you to think. I don't think the person(s) who developed
the plan said "Let's call it the Zonal Improvement Plan" and then when
they realized the acronym was ZIP said "He man, what a coincidence...cool!"
Rather, the plan was named so that the acronym was suggest the message
the Postal Service wanted to get across.

Which is, in fact, the way many acronyms come about. For example:
NOW - National Organization of Women
   "We want equality NOW, not some time in the future!"
NORML - National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
   (that may be a bit off)
   "Marijuna is a NORMAL, natural thing, not an evil addictive drug"

There's lots and lots of other examples, but I haven't had my second
cup of tea yet, and I'm drawing a blank. It says a lot about how we
remember acronyms and other brief labels and make specific associations
with them. (What if they'd called it the Postal Zone Upgrade Design?
Would we find it important to be sure we had PZUD codes on our letters?)

Mike Christie
Technical Writer
Syntelligence Systems, Inc
mikec -at- syntel -dot- com