Word of the day: nixie

The Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Day is the noun nixie:

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

The first citation, an entry in the Century Dictionary, dates from 1890. Here’s a 1929 citation that provides food for thought:

The similarity in appearance of the letters N.Y. and N.J. . . . is responsible for many letters reaching the “Nixie” division.

So yay for ZIP codes!