franking

[Dan Goncharoff]

>
> I read some of this a little differently than you, but I agree it is
> confusing.


I find the 1940 cite unclear. Did the envelope have stamps and was
cancelled, or was the enveloped printed with something accepted as postage?

I interpret the 1951 cite as meaning a girl put fake stamps on an envelope,
and the PO cancelled the stamps and delivered the letter. This is not 1a to
my eyes.

As for this 1927 cite:

___

> 1927 /Times/ 25 Feb. 10/6   The posting of franked letters at a date
> subsequent to that marked on the envelope is a violation of the terms
> of the licence.

This looks suspiciously as the meaning of franked="postmarked by a
machine"
___

This is referring to machine franking, but not postmarking. Stamps have no
date; the date arrives with a postmark. Machine franking can have a date,
and it would be a violation to post the letters on a date later than
indicated in the franking.

I don't see a difference between your first and third definitions of
franking. I have a machine add postage to an envelope or card, mailed in
another envelope, and the recipient can post the envelope or card back.

DanG


On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      franking
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Congressional franking privileges have lead to a number of scandals in
> the past (and at least one conviction). This week, a new franking
> scandal is bubbling in Montana, so the term is back in the news again.
>
> The verb frank (v.2) and franking do appear in the OED. But the range of
> definitions and examples is limited.
>
> With the exception of two subentries, all examples are from the 19th
> century of earlier. Frank v.2 1.a. has one example from 1971, but it's
> from British Elizabethan Stamps, so it actually refers to 19th century
> practices. There should either be another sub-entry under 1. to refer to
> the Congressional practice, or there should be a phrasal entry for
> "franking privilege".
>
> > 1. a. /trans./ To superscribe (a letter, etc.) with a signature, so as
> > to ensure its being sent without charge; to send or cause to be sent
> > free of charge (/obs./ exc. /Hist./). Revived in later use: to mark (a
> > letter, etc.) with a sign (in lieu of an affixed postage stamp) by
> > means of a franking machine.
> > 1927 [see franked adj. at Derivatives].
> > 1971    D. Potter /Brit. Elizabethan Stamps/ xiii. 141   Letters and
> > packets are franked with a handstamp or machine impression.
>
>
> The "Derivatives" subentries are also limited. Franked adj. and franking
> n./adj. lack separate definitions, even though the items above that they
> might be derived from are quite different and only some of them serve as
> antecedents. In fact, Congressional franking practice is similar to the
> one in Disraeli quote, yet this 1880 quote is the last one on the list.
> Franked is one of the items that has modern quotations, yet, some of the
> quotes reflect that meaning that's not even in the main entry--the 1927
> and 1928 quotes correspond to the Draft Addition 1993, while 1955 and
> 1965 quotes refer to "franked income" which is highlighted in the
> all-too-brief lemma. But no examples of "plain" franked after 1928.
>
> The Draft Addition conveys one of the current meanings of the verb, but
> the 1940 and 1951 quotes don't appear to correspond to it--they seem to
> come from the older meaning (1.a.).
>
> > To stamp a postmark on (an envelope, parcel, etc.), esp. recording the
> > date and place of posting; to cancel (a stamp) in this way.
> > 1940 A. F. Harlow /Paper Chase/ xiv. 252   It was franked in an
> > envelope of the National Recovery Administration--'Penalty for private
> > use, $300.'
> > 1951 /Sunday Pict./ 21 Jan. 4/3   The Post Office franked and
> > delivered an unusual letter to Mrs J. M. Gooding. ...  Written from
> > hospital by her young daughter she had posted it with a toy stamp
> > issued by a store.
> > ...
>
> Also note that "franking machine" is mentioned in 1.a. lemma. But
> Franking machine is a separate entry, at the moment, although it is
> cross-referenced to frank v.2 and franking.
>
> >   An officially authorized machine, introduced by the British Post
> > Office in 1922, used by large concerns for 'stamping' letters, etc.,
> > with a sign (in lieu of an affixed postage stamp); it simultaneously
> > records the cost of postage (this being periodically checked and
> > collected by the Post Office).
> > 1927 /Times /22 Feb. 10/4   Remembering to have read of a franking
> > machine called a postage meter being recently issued to the public, I
> > wrote to the P.M.G.
> > 1961 /Lebende Sprachen /6 70/1   Postage meter machine (B[ritish]
> > E[nglish]: franking machine).
>
> I don't think it's just British English (although I could be wrong). But
> also note the context of the 1927 quote.
>
> Now compare it to the 1927 quote under franked, which also is
> cross-referenced under frank v.2 1.a.
>
> > 1927 /Times/ 25 Feb. 10/6   The posting of franked letters at a date
> > subsequent to that marked on the envelope is a violation of the terms
> > of the licence.
>
> This looks suspiciously as the meaning of franked="postmarked by a
> machine", which would fall under the Draft Addition 1993 rather than
> under 1.a. This would both antedate that subentry and force the quote
> from one subentry to another (which is a fair swap for the 1940 and 1951
> quotes above). In fact, the "revived use" simply refers to the use of
> the postal meter, which falls under Draft Addition 1993. So there is an
> overlap between those two that should be cured. It's not a revival, so
> much, as an entirely new meaning--1.a. (old) implied the letter was
> being sent free of charge (to the poster), but the new one (postal
> meter) implies that it is being sent without a formal postage stamp
> (meaning that sticky piece of paper with an image on it, not a stamp
> produced with an implement), but it is paid for.
>
> There also appear to be three different meanings of frank folded into
> that draft addition. Two are spelled out while the third is unmentioned.
> The first is just described--stamping a letter or package with a
> franking machine or postal meter in lieu of a paper postage stamp. The
> second refers to stamping date and time--either with a hand tool or via
> a machine--onto the postage stamp. This is also known as "cancelling"
> the stamp (originally meaning that the stamp is taken out of
> circulation--particularly with stamp collectors--but now used to refer
> to the whole process). The third meaning is to supply someone with a
> "countersigned" envelope so that a letter (particularly business
> correspondence) can be returned free of charge. In the US this includes
> the practice of "Business Reply" envelopes or cards--they are ubiquitous
> on magazine subscription cards, among others, but the familiar
> black-line face has changed over the years. The "Business Reply"
> correspondence is close to the original meaning of "franked" letters.
>
> Incidentally, "cancelled" also has no 20th century quotation and does
> not mention stamps.
>
>     VS-)
>
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