World War II postal acronyms

World War II postal acronyms were first used to convey messages between servicemen and their sweethearts back home. They were usually written on the back of the envelope.[1]

The acronyms, possibly including some more recent additions, are:

Terry Pratchett parodied this briefly in his Discworld novel Going Postal. His acronyms included L.A.N.C.R.E. and K.L.A.T.C.H. (Lancre and Klatch being two locations in the Discworld), although these were never officially expanded.

A Dirty Pretty Things song is named "B.U.R.M.A." after the postal acronym and contains the line 'Be Upstairs Ready My Angel'.

References

  1. Douglas Sutherland (1988). Portrait of a Decade: London Life 1945-1955. p. 25. ISBN 0-245-54561-1.
  2. 1 2 Jonathon Green (2006). The Big Book of Talking Dirty. p. 292. ISBN 0-304-36677-3.
  3. Simon Garfield (2013). To the Letter. p. 400.
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