Question for non Americans - mailing addresses

[Siam_Sam]

I don’t know why, but the two-letter state abbreviations bug me when I’m addressing an envelope for the US. Or maybe “bugs” is not the right word, but I always write the state out in full. Just my habit.

[Acsenray]

@Siam_Sam

I don’t know why, but the two-letter state abbreviations bug me when I’m addressing an envelope for the US. Or maybe “bugs” is not the right word, but I always write the state out in full. Just my habit.

They suck, that’s why they bug you.

[Siam_Sam]

The thing is they don’t bug me at all when I’m reading them. But when I’m addressing an envelope, I just have to spell out the state.

[guizot]

@wolfpup

. . .Canada Post guidelines say “avoid using ‘Canada’ in domestic addresses.” They also say “There should be one space between the municipality and the province or territory, and two spaces between the province or territory and the Postal Code” and “Punctuation should not be used unless it is part of a proper name, such as in ‘ST. JOHN’S’.”

They don’t sound like very nice people.

[BigT]

I use the state abbreviations because I had to go to the trouble to learn them, and it’s the only time it’s acceptable to use them.

And if someone gives you their address with a state code, I wouldn’t change it. That’s how I occasionally wind up with mail that takes a detour to Arizona.

[Gunslinger]

The USPS, at least, despite making a big deal of it on the change-of-address form, doesn’t really care about names. As long as the address and postal code are right, it’ll get there.

For example, I get mail at:
Gunslinger/my real name/my other internet handles/my stage name
110 Pornstar Ln #111
City, TX
75555

No matter what name my internet friend puts in the first line. Stuff that has to be signed for, I use my real name, but UPS/FedEx rarely check ID.

And yeah the USPS prefers the two-letter state abbreviations because it makes the machine sorting easier – the OCR can usually make out a handwritten two-letter abbrev., but if you write out the whole word it’ll probably get kicked back to a person to try to figure out your crap handwriting.

[Lord_Feldon]

@Gunslinger

The USPS, at least, despite making a big deal of it on the change-of-address form, doesn’t really care about names.

They make a big deal on the change-of-address form because that’s how they separate your mail from the new occupant’s mail. It’s the only time it really matters.

[Melbourne]

If you’re new to the wonderful world of postal ddresses, you may enjoy falsehoods programmers believe about addresses

[PatrickLondon]

The UK Royal Mail does rather pride itself (or used to) on trying to get things delivered despite the odds:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/27/post.features11

[MrDibble]

@Urbanredneck

So in your country, how does the mailing address system work?

In South Africa, it’s exactly like in the US, except with the postal code (4 digits) rather than a zip code.

[HarryTheHat]

@Sangahyando

I being another Brit: I confess to having a probably unfair and un-called-for dislike of postcodes. They were introduced in the UK some fifty years – and the majority of my lifetime – ago. I do fine with remembering stuff which is “mostly words, with the odd figure”; but I completely suck at remembering arbitrary jumbles of letters and figures, and pretty much “can’t do” postcodes. I know by heart, my own, and those of perhaps two or three other people – all others, I always have to look up, which annoys me. I readily admit that with the UK’s growing, and densely-packed, population, postcodes became necessary; and I conscientiously use them – I just hate them.

Re rural addresses: I have a friend who lives in the depths of the countryside, toward the Anglo-Welsh border. Vis-a-vis Colophon’s model above, I suspect that with his address as he routinely gives it, he’s doing things a bit wrong. Let’s say he lives in Yondershire, post town Yonderton with postcodes YN* ***. Style of his address (not the real one !), as given by him, is

The Rill
Small Village
Yondershire
YN4 7KH

Still, there never seem to be problems with post reaching him. It seems that on the whole, the Royal Mail do not act like sticklers for meticulous correctness with addressing conventions.

Our family have relations in New Zealand; and I am favourably impressed by the NZ authorities’ handling of this matter. With the country being mostly rural with – by general global standards – a tiny population: postcodes, zip codes, what-have-you, are not functionally necessary. And, cheeringly, they are not used: addresses work in the same way as they did in the UK fifty-plus years ago. It’s as simple as

2 Silver Fern Street
WAIKIKAMOUKAU
NZ

–usually, no need even to bother with specifying North or South Island. Humans being the way they are, I’d not have found it surprising if New Zealand officialdom had felt that though the country does not need postcodes / zip codes; they would be introduced anyway, so that NZ could feel that it was at the cutting edge of things, and was keeping up with the postal Joneses. Admirably good sense has obtained here.

Waikikamoukau my favourite address in the world after Kickatinalong in Australia.

[Sangahyando]

@HarryTheHat

Waikikamoukau my favourite address in the world after Kickatinalong in Australia.

Rumbalbelipur in India, is another good one. It’s thought that all these originated in the World Wars, with servicemen from the countries concerned sent to distant theatres of war, and whimsically naming important points there “after the fashion of their native lands”.