DCHP-3

postie

DCHP-2 (Nov 2012)

Spelling variants:
Postie

n. — Administration, informal, diminutive

a letter carrier or, occasionally, another type of postal worker.

Type: 2. Preservation — Postie has been preserved from British English and it appears to be of Scottish origin (see OED-3, s.v. "postie", and W-3, s.v. "postie"). It is currently used in many former British colonies, although it appears to have little currency in the US. Postie is a term of endearment, a diminutive that is almost always used in a positive way.

See also COD-2, s.v. "postie", which is marked "Brit. & Cdn informal".

Quotations

1910
Or, again, take the postman. He tramps through rain and slush and storm and frost, from door to door, distributing his messages of joy or woe to the pale, house-poisoned inmates who come responsive to his welcome ring. He breathes pure cold air; he seldom wears an overcoat or mittens; he is so healthy. True, he is not so fat as the butcher. But that is due to the great wisdom of our Government. They know that postmen never could carry an ass's burden and make the long journeys in short time if they were fat. Hence they make the salaries small, and keep the men lean. Deep wisdom, though postie can't see it.
1934
POSTIE WON'T WORK ON CHRISTMAS DAY No mail will be delivered on Christmas Day, it was announced yesterday by the Toronto general post-office. The city's 600 posties will leave the depots at eight a.m. Monday, Dec. 24, with their last load of mail for holiday delivery.
1957
RETURNS POSTIE TO JOB, FLAYS UNION 'DESPOTS' Mr. Justice E.G. Thompson yesterday ruled that heads of Canada's 5,200 member mailmen's union were guilty of "despotic misconduct" in the suspension of one of the union's branch officials.
1978
The irony of all this is that Co-op's scrupulousness in trying to pluck native dramatic talent out of the country's mailing system has produced no real fruit. Perishing the thought that it, the Canadian Waiting For Godot or even the Canadian Same Time, Next Year, is out there getting a look-see from a postie in Portage La Prairie, we find that the crackerjack Canajan playwright is holding out for the time being.
1999
The Surrey homeowner had complained several times to Canada Post about the amount of mail belonging to others that kept winding up at his house. So when he found another three letters for neighbors in his mail box, he told the postie that not all the mail was his. In reply, the carrier grabbed the mail, threw it on the road and marched off.
2007
Various traces of possible postal perfidy have surfaced over the years, most recently in the million-dollar expense accounts of Liberal troughster Andre Ouellet during his stint as head postie. Taxpayers wanting to know exactly how anyone could wine and dine his way through so much hard-earned public money have been out of luck -- the Post Office is exempt from the Access to Information Act, and under no obligation to disclose anything other than the usual fluff in its annual reports.
2011
Postie strikes moving to Ontario 11:47 am, June 3rd, 2011 OTTAWA -- Canada Post workers' rolling strike will target Hamilton, Ont., next. At 11:45 p.m. ET Friday, postal workers there will walk off the job for 48 hours, while workers in Winnipeg who walked off the job late Thursday will return to work. "The members, the union, will continue to put pressure on Canada Post (to) sign a good collective agreement and they address the real issues of the postal workers," said CUPW national president Denis Lemelin at a Friday morning news conference. He added that none of Canada Post's late-Thursday concessions addressed the key issue of worker safety. Lemelin said despite having three breaks per shift, mail sorters still have health concerns because they spend eight-hour shifts in front of a sorting machine. "Outside, there's a lot of risk for the letter carrier."
2016

Letter To a Future Postie
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Thursday June 30 2016
The year is 2036 and you’re reading this because right now, you’re thinking about what it means to call yourself a postal worker. You’re wondering if it’s really worth it to put your body and your future on the line. That’s what your union is asking you to do.
It’s already a tough job and it’s tougher to have to keep fighting the boss. The lousy, divisive offer they just handed the union seems tempting, if only to buy yourself a little temporary peace. To make one big stress in a truckload of stressors Just. Go. Away. But the truth is there are only two rules in the labour movement:
Rule #1: You don’t get anything unless you fight for it.
Rule #2: You don’t get to keep anything unless you keep fighting.

References

  • COD-2
  • OED-3
  • W-3