abbreviations Re: Generalizations about English spelling

Nicholas Bodley wrote:

> I had an e-mail tussle on another non-linguistic List with my contention
> that the two-letter postal codes are not abbreviations. Even the US Postal
> Service, being realists, "gave in" and now refers to them as
> "abbreviations". I contend that anyone with a decently-developed "literary
> sense" (uncommon in our current society) will not regard them to be
> abbreviations at all.

If they're not abbreviations, what are they? What does "abbreviation"
mean to you?
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...