Why did they change the abbreviation of the states to 2 letters??? Florida used to be Fla.????

Question

California used to be Calif. etc..... anyway, I used to think (Calif) stood for: Come and live in Florida! Just kidding, but really, what was the need to go to 2 letters rather the old abbreviation??

Answer 1

I don't know why it was done, and I wish it hadn't
been. It is much more confusing than the older
method. I would hazard a guess that it was done
at least partly so that all the abbreviations would be
of the same length. It was also never intended for
use by the general public, just by the companies
that make large bulk mailings. This was stated by
a Post Office Department official in a stamp
collector's newspaper. He said they never
expected the general public to use these
abbreviations, so they are not in any way "official".
Since the mail will get where it is going with the
new abbreviations or the old ones or with the
state name written out in full it seems to have been
hardly worth the effort of making the change.

Answer 2

Two Letter State Abbreviations

Answer 3

Florida Postal Abbreviation

Answer 4

The abbreviations have not been changed. You can still use the original ones. Don't forget abbreviations have a period after them. The two letter codes are postal codes. There is no period after them. They are meant for mail but it seems that everyone started using them as alternate abbreviations. Look up the old ones in the dictionary. They are still there.

Answer 5

The U. S. Postal Service instituted the two letter abbreviations for U. S. states in order to make easier the job of reading and distributing mail. Also, the system was instituted to make easier the reading of mail addresses by optical character recognition equipment.

Answer 6

Yes, this is the work of the United States Postal Service. However, you not need be limited to it in your correspondence. Indeed, it you used an older abbreviation on an envelope, it's probably going to reach its destination in any case. (With ZIP codes, it's almost redundant.)

The system is not limited to states, and I don't mean just DC. There's Puerto Rico (PR), the Virgin Islands (VI), and even the Federated States of Micronesia (FM). Also, Canada's postal system uses two-letter codes for provinces. (Interestingly, Quebec can be either QC or PQ.)

Hope that helps.

Answer 7

The US Postal Service instituted the new, two-letter abbrebviations a number of years back to create a uniform system to help them streamline the mail operations. For a complete list of approved USPS abbreviations, check out http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/abbreviations.html

Answer 8

The two letter abbreviations come from the U.S. Postal Service. They wanted to avoid confusion by coming up with a two letter standard.

Answer 9

Two-letter abbreviations standardize everything. If you're sending a letter, though, it will make it to its destination whether you write out the state's name, use the two-letter abbreviation, or use some other abbrviation. (My grandmother writes Penna. all the time instead of Pennsylvania or PA.)

Answer 10

You are all wrong! It was done to use with a zip code to define a "federal zone" within a State.
When you use it, you are claiming to reside in a Federal Area as a Fourteenth amendment US citizen, who only has privileges and immunities NOT RIGHTS! Then go back and read the 10th amendment and realize why it does not apply. Than google "the Federal Zone"

From the movie The Matrix ...MORPHEUS: "That you are a slave, Neo. That you, like everyone else, was born into bondage... kept inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." "You feel it when you go to work, or go to church or pay your taxes."