Unnix Nixie!
Posted on:: October 7th, 2003
An article in The Boston Globe by Don Aucoin today reports on how Merriam-Webster adds and deletes words. I’m a sucker for these articles.
But a great injustice is being done. Among the words being dropped from the 11th edition is:
nixie (also nixy) (c. 1890): a piece of mail that is undeliverable because illegibly or incorrectly addressed
I create at least one nixie a day, and sometimes half a dozen. Did we ever need the word “nixie” as much as we do now? And not just because there are 36,400 hits on “nixie” on Google, the bulk of which concern nixie tubes which apparently can be used to make cool clocks…
Categories: Uncategorized dw
Bring Back Nixie!
Bring Back Nixie!
Let the slogans begin:
Nookie for Nixie.
Dixie loves Nixie.
more?
Nixie is still used in the direct mail industry to refer to addresses that have asked not to be mailed to.
I had one direct marketer tell me that the best-performing list in the country probably was the Direct Marketing Association’s nixie list.
This was maybe 15 years ago, but I doubt it has gone out of usage.
Factoid: The word ‘Nixie’ was used in the Dec 1st, 1996 NY Times Sunday Crossword puzzle.
Just my $0.02 ;-)
Frank