general postn.
/ˌdʒɛn(ə)rəl ˈpəʊst/, /ˌdʒɛn(ə)rl̩ ˈpəʊst/, U.S. /ˈdʒɛn(ə)rəl ˈpoʊst/ 1. The post or mail sent from the General Post Office in London, originally on certain days, subsequently once a day, to all the post offices in the country (as opposed to the local penny post or twopenny post). Now historical.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > types of service
printed paper1553
letter post1660
penny post1680
general post1687
parcel post1790
penny postage1798
twopenny post1811
twopenny1818
printed matter1836
parcel delivery1837
bangy1842
book post1848
special delivery1865
V.P.P.1888
express delivery1891
rural free delivery1891
certified mail1955
recorded delivery1960
Mailgram1969
freepost1970
1687 Marquis of Halifax Remarks on Let. to Dissenter 5 Pray prevail with your new Friend..to write a second Letter Northward, and if your Intrigue with him continues till the return of the general Post, (for we are admonished to have a very tender regard to Horses) [etc.].
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) iii. 444 There is establish'd another Post, called the Penny-Post, whereby..any Letter or Parcel..is..conveyed to, and from Parts..not conveniently served by the General-Post.
1755 Man No. 13. 5 That I may not interfere with the penny-post, the general-post, or the news-men, I propose to receive no parcel that does not outweigh a pound.
1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) II. 179 Between the arrival of the general post and its departure there is an interval of twelve hours.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby i. 2 There came one morning, by the general post, a black-bordered letter.
1898 J. H. Daniels Hist. Brit. Postmarks 5 In 1680 William Dockwra started in London the first Penny Post, and he is also credited with the introduction of postmarks, [but] I have entire letters containing undoubted marks impressed by the General Post fifteen years previously.
1935 R. A. Knox Barchester Pilgrimage v. 197 It was necessary for Lord Dumbello to sit down and write a letter to his mother; for it is always easiest to break the ice in such matters by means of the general post.
2.
a. A game in which each player is called by the name of a place to which letters are supposed to be sent and all are required to change seats when ‘general post’ is called.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > general post
post1868
general post1874
1860 H. Marryat Resid. Jutland I. xiii. 201 The town of Copenhagen resembles the English game of post when a general post is proclaimed, and all the company in motion, one individual being left disconsolate without the wherewithal to rest himself.]
1874 Fraser's Mag. Oct. 476/2 This lesson to the looker-on had all the effect of the game known as ‘General Post’, in which the players are perpetually jumping up and rushing into one another's places.
1889 K. Greenaway Bk. Games 63 General Post. One person is selected as ‘postman’ and blindfolded, the others all take the names of different places, except one, who is chosen the leader, and has a written list of the places chosen by the players.
1900 Econ. Jrnl. 10 48 It is like the old game of General Post, or Puss-in-the-Corner; there may be a seat for each, but when everyone is on the move, there will inevitably be a struggle for seats.
1921 Times 20 Dec. 13/5 When the smaller children are getting tired and mothers and nurses are muffling them in their wraps, the older children can play ‘General Post’, ‘Blind Man's Buff’, or any other game which is suited to their age.
1969 I. Opie & P. Opie Children's Games vi. 209 The party game known variously as ‘General Post’, ‘Move All’ [etc.].
b. figurative. A general and rapid exchange or interchange of positions, etc.
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the world > time > change > exchange > [noun] > instance of
achange1530
chopping and changing1548
swap1625
shuffle1641
general post1879
musical chairs1958
1879 A. Eubule-Evans Reclaimed xvi. 190 ‘And 'ow hare you going to take it 'ome without one, silly?’ asked the woman with a scorn, which was the signal for a ‘general post’ among her aspirates.
1912 Jrnl. Afr. Soc. 11 193 It gives some idea of the ‘general post’ that used to take place after the death of a chief.
1941 A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall xii. 307 They were..instituted to other livings; in effect, it meant a sort of general post of the affected clergy.
1966 Past & Present Apr. 70 When one of these landlords died, someone else moved up in the scale to take his place, and a general post ensued in half the inns of the town.
Compounds
C1. attributive, as general-post day, general post letter, etc.
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1767 W. meredith Let. 26 June in E. Burke Corr. (1844) I. 130 Have the goodness to write me a line on general-post days, how you all go on.
1830 Parl. Papers XIII. 46 The twopenny-post riders convey greater weights than the general-post riders.
1840 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 3 104 Those letters which have been most affected by the reduction, viz., the General Post letters.
1865 E. Meteyard Life J. Wedgwood I. iii. 106 In 1740 the general post letters were brought by an old woman every Sunday from Newcastle.
C2.
general post delivery n. now historical a delivery of the general post; (also) the area served by this. N.E.D. (1898) states: ‘the first delivery in the morning is still officially designated the G.P. or General Post delivery’.
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1793 10th Rep. Comm. Fees in Public Offices 31 The Second Penny is that demanded on Delivery of all Penny Post letters without the Bounds of the General Post Delivery.
1819 Times 11 Nov. 1/5 (advt.) Heston, near Southall, is in the general post delivery.
1825 W. O. Russell & E. Ryan Crown Cases (1839) 264 In a corner of the direction were the two letters ‘G.P.’, denoting that it is within the boundary of the general post delivery.
1870 Times 14 Feb. 6/6 A letter which came by the general post delivery this morning at 8 35.
1927 E. Murray Post Office 15 Four years later the limits of the Twopenny Post were restricted to the General Post delivery.
general postman n. [ < general adj. + postman n.1, after general post n.] now historical a person who delivers the general post (as opposed to a penny postman or twopenny postman).
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1810 Monthly Mirror May 352 In his right hand he held a letter addressed to ‘Timothy Transfer, Esq. London’, a device..serving..to demonstrate that the general postman required no other direction.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 14 Like a general postman's coat.
1938 E. H. Short & A. Compton-Rickett Ring up Curtain xvi. 254 Representations of the London Newspapers, headed by..The Morning Post, the latter being dressed like a general postman.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1687