Nixie in the Oxford English Dictionary

[Malcolm Miles]

Received this today. Someone needs to talk to the OED!

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OED Online Word of the Day

nixie, n.²

[‘ U.S. Post which cannot be forwarded by the postal services because it is illegibly or incorrectly addressed. Freq. attrib.’]

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈnɪksi/,  U.S. /ˈnɪksi/

Forms:  18– nixy,   19– nixie. 

Origin:Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: nix n.¹, -y suffix⁶.

Etymology: <  nix n.¹ + -y suffix⁶.

 1. U.S. Post which cannot be forwarded by the postal services because it is illegibly or incorrectly addressed. Freq. attrib.

1890 Cent. Dict., Nixy².

1901 Congress. Rec. 17 Jan. 1145/6 These poor ‘nixie’ clerks in the postoffices of this country.

1905 N.Y. Evening Post 8 Feb. 5 What the railway postal clerks most dread is the class of mail they know as ‘nixies’.

1929 Lit. Digest 5 Oct. 67/1 The similarity in appearance of the letters N.Y. and N.J... is responsible for many letters reaching the ‘Nixie’ division.

1956 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 19 Sept. 28/1 ‘Nixie’ is mail that can't be delivered because the address is incorrect, illegible, or insufficient.

1994 New Yorker 24 Oct. 68/3 In the Central Post Office's nixie unit—where mail arrives that has been illegibly or incorrectly addressed—I see street numbers in the seventy thousands.

 2. = nix n.¹ a. rare.

1906  E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xviii. 249 Er storm centre..redooced..land values t' nex' t' nixie.

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Best wishes,

Malcolm

[Terry S]

Stamp collectors and post card collectors know the term well, it's common to see this on ebay, a piece of mail described as a "nixie". Caught me off guard the first time I ran across it.

Terry