letter telegram
- noun
- Archaic
:
telegrama de carta
- She sent a letter telegram to her family overseas, knowing it would arrive the next day.
Examples
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Before the internet, many people relied on the letter telegram service for urgent international messages.
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A letter telegram was the most affordable way to communicate across continents in the early 20th century.
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I sent a letter telegram to my friend in France.
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Have you ever used a letter telegram?
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A letter telegram was the most affordable way to communicate across continents in the early 20th century.
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She sent a letter telegram to her family overseas, knowing it would arrive the next day.
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Before the internet, many people relied on the letter telegram service for urgent international messages.
Synonyms
117
7.3
A short message sent by telegram
87
6.9
A written message sent by telegraph before phones
A short message sent quickly to someone in another country
A telegram sent at night to arrive the next day for less money
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'letter telegram' transparently signals a subtype of 'telegram' modified by 'letter', so a B1 learner who knows both words would infer it is a kind of telegram related to a letter. However, the specific conventions (cheaper for abroad, next-day delivery) are conventionalized details not derivable from the constituents, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The term letter telegram comes from an old post office service that mixed a fast telegram and a slow letter: post office workers would copy a customer's words and send them abroad at a 'cheaper' price so the message arrived the 'next day'. That's why letter telegram means a lower-cost telegram sent for delivery the following day.