Nixie

Hi,

I’ve been reading “The Complete Fairy Tales” by the Brothers Grimm recently for my other blog about reading 501 books. I came across an interesting word in a couple of their tales – nixie. This is pronounced nick-see.

According to their stories – the nixie was an ill-tempered water spirit who trapped children and made them do chores for her. According to Wikipedia the Nixie is a water spirit character in Dungeons and Dragons who is shy and suspicious. Your dictionary tells me that a nixie is either a female nix (nix being a water spirit) or a piece of undeliverable mail (due to illegible addressing etc).

I suppose the idea of a grumpy water sprite hiding or refusing to deliver your mail does make sense, if you want to link the two meanings for fun. Especially if the ink used on the address ran due to the rainy weather conditions.

I have always been impressed with the persistance of mailmen/postmen (or women) in getting the mails through. I know of cases where letters went the entire way around the world and eventually found the right person. In another case the address given was like “Tom Smith, house with red door on main street, Smallville” and it actually made it due to the local knowledge of the postman. I think that is just terrific service in a world where sometimes going the extra mile is regarded as foolish.

Until next week, happy reading, writing and fooling with words. If you’re addressing any mail/post this week – try to make it clear for the sake of our hard-working postal/mail workers,

Grace