|
#REDIRECT [[Dead letter mail]]
:''For the album by the Finnish band The Rasmus, see [[Dead Letters]].''
{{R from short name}}
The term '''dead letter''' has several usages, each deriving from the notion of [[mail]] that is no longer deliverable.
==Postal delivery==
In the field of postal delivery a dead letter refers to a [[letter]] or [[parcel]] sent via the mail that for some reason is undeliverable or unclaimed. There are several scenarios that could lead to this situation. The letter may have been addressed to a nonexistent ___location, a ___location which existed at the time of the sending of the letter but was destroyed or abandoned before it could be delivered with no forwarding address provided, or the address could have become unreadable. It is also possible that the letter was sent without [[postage]] or a return address. Depending upon the class of postage under which the letter is sent or the policy of the postal service in charge of the letter's delivery the letter will be returned to its originator (if possible) or destroyed. The [[United States Postal Service]] has a policy of [[Mail Recovery Center]]s formerly the [[Dead Letter Office]].
==Last written document before death==
When a person, most likely a [[soldier]], is not sure of his survival and has in his possession documents or information important to that person such as vital military intelligence or a personal message to a loved one, transfers the documents to anyone he trusts before he dies in
order to ensure the information will be conveyed.
==Law/policy==
A dead letter can also refer to anything that has outlived its relevance, such as a law which has not been revoked but is obsolete, inapplicable, or no longer enforced. This includes but is not limited to [[blue law]]s. Another example from an actual case is [[Parker v. District of Columbia]]: "In short, we take the District’s position to be that the [[Second Amendment]] is a dead letter." [http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200703/04-7041a.pdf]
==Crossword==
A dead letter can also refer to an empty space in a [[crossword puzzle]] where all the other letters of the corresponding words are filled in.
==In Popular Culture==
The third episode in the first season of the television series [[Millennium (TV series) | Millennium]] was titled "Dead Letters".
The song "[[Stan (song) | Stan]]" by popular rap artist [[Eminem]] deals with an obsessed fan, Stan, who regularly writes to Eminem. Already mentally disturbed, Stan's mental state and behaviour becomes even more deranged after he does not receive a reply for six months, and goes so far as to drive his car over a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk. The music video to the song shows a number of mishaps at the post office which lead to most of Stan's messages becoming dead letters. Eminem finally responds to the one letter he does receive, but only after Stan's suicide.
==See also==
*[[Secrecy of correspondence]]
==External links==
* [http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2c_deadletters.html Smithsonian Postal Museum]
* [http://www.thedeadletter.com Thedeadletter.com]
* [http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/25176/what_happens_to_dead_letters_at_the.html What Happens to Dead Letters at the Post Office?]
[[Category:Postal system]]
[[Category:English phrases]]
| 