Re: CHAT: postcodes

En réponse à bnathyuw <bnathyuw@...>:

>
> is the uk really odd in using this system ? does
> anything similar exist elsewhere ? i haven't seen it
> in the places i've been to, but that's not saying much
>
The Netherlands use a similar system, but simpler, which goes DDDD LL, ie. four
numbers followed by two letters. The four numbers mark a "zone" (IIRC it begins
with somewhere in Amsterdam which is the 1000 zone), but I don't know how the
zones themselves are organised. As for the two letters, they mark the street in
the zone. So with only the postcode and the door number the address is
complete. The idea behind the system was to stop using streetnames and town
names. But people continue to put them on letters, although they are completely
unnecessary.

Something that was surprising for me the first time I came to the Netherlands
was the fact that each house or apartment door has its own number, whereas in
France apartment buildings have a single door number (so you have to specify
the name of the person you send a letter to).

In France, the postcode is simply made of five digits. The first two are the
department number (I don't know how they do in Outer-Sea departments, but I
guess they have three numbers there instead. And of course there are the
departments 2A and 2B of Corsica). Departments are normally numbered by
alphabetical order, but Corsica is an exception, as well as all the small
departments around Paris (which get numbers beginning with 90, although there
are less than 90 departments in France :)) ). The three other numbers normally
specify the town and always end with a 0 for normal addresses. The department
prefecture always gets the 000. I'd guess other towns are listed
alphabetically. Of course, there are exceptions to the "end by 0" rule. First,
towns with so-called "arrondissements" (pieces of towns with their own
townhall), that's to say Paris, Lyon and Marseille (IIRC) get the number of the
arrondissement in the three-digit number (so addresses in Paris normally don't
have a 75000 postcode, but a 75001 to 75020 - since there are 20
arrondissements in Paris). Second, there are special addresses (used with
administrations, TV channels and companies), often with a "Cedex" in it and no
street address at all, and those addresses always feature a postcode with the
normal department code, but with a three-number code that doesn't have anything
to do with the town they are in, and is recognisable as it *never* ends with a
zero.

Anyway, it means that with French addresses you have to put the right name,
street address and door number if you want to be sure your letter will get to
the right person. Only the town name would be optional.

> i've always thought it really wasteful that each
> person has a street address, a phone number, and an
> email address here. why not have something that could
> be used for everything ?
>
Maybe because then it would be impossible for people to have more than one
phone, or more than one e-mail address? I actually don't think such a system
would be workable, as phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses are meant
for very different communication systems, which have nearly nothing in common.

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

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