junk mail

junk mail
   Junk mail (alternatively known as direct mail) is sent unsolicited through the post. The availability of huge computer databases has enabled the direct mailing of millions of people. From the merchandisers’ point of view, this is a cheap way of targeting customers. It can often pay its way with a response rate of less than 5 percent. Large privatized companies such as Southern Electric and United Utilities have come under fire from the Data Protection Registry for including with their bills promotional literature for insurance companies, motoring organizations and so on. In the year to March 1997, complaints from the public rose 32 percent to 3,897. Junk mail is also becoming a problem on fax machines, and in the late 1990s the Internet version of junk mail became known as ‘spamming’.
   MIKE STORRY

Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture . . 2014.

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  • junk mail — ➔ mail1 * * * junk mail UK US noun [U] COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING ► advertising material that is sent to homes and businesses without their asking for it: »Over 3.3 billion items of junk mail were delivered by the Royal Mail last year. → Compare… …   Financial and business terms

  • Junk mail — could mean: * Advertising mail received through the post. * Spam (electronic) * The Norwegian film Budbringeren ( Junk Mail ) * The Seinfeld episode, The Junk Mail …   Wikipedia

  • junk mail — /dʒankˈmeil, ingl. dʒʌŋkmeɪl/ [loc. ingl., propr. «corrispondenza elettronica (e mail) spazzatura (junk)»] loc. sost. f. inv. CFR. spamming …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Junk Mail —   [dt. »Ramsch E Mail«], Spam Mail …   Universal-Lexikon

  • junk mail — junk ,mail noun uncount advertising and other information sent to you by mail, e mail, or FAX, although you did not ask for it and do not want it …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • junk mail — ☆ junk mail n. advertisements, solicitations, etc. mailed in large quantities, usually by third class mail …   English World dictionary

  • junk mail — n [U] letters, especially advertisements, that are sent by organizations to large numbers of people used to show disapproval …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • junk mail — junk′ mail n. unsolicited commercial material, as advertisements and requests for donations, mailed in bulk • Etymology: 1950–55, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • junk mail — ► NOUN informal ▪ unsolicited advertising material sent by post …   English terms dictionary

  • junk mail — noun third class mail consisting of advertising and often addressed to resident or occupant • Hypernyms: ↑third class mail, ↑third class * * * noun Etymology: junk (I) : third class mail (as circulars …   Useful english dictionary

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