snail mail
noun/ˈsneɪl ˌmeɪl/
Etymology A retronym emphasizing postal mail's slowness compared to email.
1
Retronym Mail (physical material) sent in the post, especially as compared with email.
- I came home to a mailbox stuffed with snail mail.
- To send a letter by snail mail (the Postal Service), you must still compose it, and also print it out, unless you write it by hand or on a typewriter.1993 November 9, L. R. Shannon, “Peripherals: MCI Mail Changes The Nature Of Letters”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Apr 2014:
2
Retronym Mail (postal service), especially as compared with email.
- The official notice will be sent via both email and snail mail owing to legal requirements.
- Synonyms
- smail
- Derived terms
- play-by-snail-mail