"Le chien a encore mordu le facteur !"

Translation: The dog bit the mail carrier again!

[Angela470035]

Postman?

[BruceSmith51040]

To be gender neutral, Australian mail carriers are Posties.

[Vic3141]

The poor posties work hard now delivering big parcels on their bikes while wearing masks and gloves. They still smile - you just have to look at their eyes.

[Mike904263]

So are Scottish ones but it's nothing to do with being pc: it's what they are. Does the film 'The postman always rings twice' have to refer to a mail carrier now?

[Luminous_Moose]

The Royal Mail officially calls them Posties when recruiting. I like that. Better than the gender neutral term in Canada -- letter carrier. On their career website, the US Postal Service just calls them Carriers.

[mysticwing1]

I like you

[effyleven]

Dog bites the postman? Yes, the same the world over?

[Make_me_Poly]

Never heard "mail carrier" before

[Aidan424456]

Me neither. Postman (or -woman, occasionally), postie, mailman, courier, but never "mail carrier".
"Factor" is a job in Scots English (an estate manager, for renting commercial premises from, or the rent man for renting homes ; plus various related legalisms), which is probably cognate term. Another Americanism, I guess.

[TimmyKilminster]

I'd forgotten about the job of factor - a word I only ever saw in print. Thanks.

[maryholland.uk]

Agreed, never heard of 'mail carrier' in UK! We use either postman/postwoman or postie.

[AndreaVout]

The mail carrier??? Sounds like an inanimate object, perhaps the bag the mail is carried in?

[Mike716479]

Definitely, and not a person.

[Mike716479]

Not a mail carrier but a postman.

[Michael238101]

Would that be the postman?

[ballarat]

why is "postman" not accepted?

[TimmyKilminster]

It was for me, 12/5/21

[CSA_GW]

Anyone think about "aircraft carrier" while seeing "mail carrier"? Has anyone ever thought "aircraft carrier" as "the person driving the aircraft" instead of the big ship carrying aircraft?

I am afraid most people would think "mail carrier" as the van/car/etc used to contain mails and to carry mails.

[alexmiller1201]

It's not about driving. It's about carrying the mail around. Think of the walking route ones who go on foot, carrying a big bag of mail.

[Aidan424456]

Actually, a lot of them don't carry a "big bag" any more, but pull a electrically-assisted trolley around. Bigger parcels just go straight to van delivery, by weight.

[Martyn413385]

In a real situation you would be likely to know whether the person being bitten was male of female. Therefore a gender-neutral term is not necessary here, although it is, of course, fine. The French appear to have "factrice" for their feminine mail delivery role.

[Bekir978479]

postman or mailman. The bike is the mailMAN carrier.

[Will256574]

Mail carrier does not exist in Australia. It's postman or more likely postie or possibly courier (from the French: to run) if a private company.

[--Roody--]

I say "mail carrier" often, so I'm glad Duo accepts it. Also, it is their official job title per the U.S.P.S.

[alexmiller1201]

You are correct, it is the official job title per the USPS. (A ridiculous thing for people to downvote.)

[aussie3931]

Hi Alex. I am happy to accept 'mail carrier' as an American term for a postman, but am not happy with Duo for not accepting 'a postman'. After all, the American film 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' was made in 1946 with John Garfield and Lana Turner, and again in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange.

[alexmiller1201]

Neither RoodyRoo nor I have insinuated that they shouldn't accept Postman. Only that the others insisting that mail carrier is not correct (and denying that it's chosen by the USPS themselves) are going too far.

[Aidan424456]

But this is France, where the USPS doesn't exist, but La Poste does. So what the USPS calls them is pretty irrelevant.

[Ieuan_ab_Arthur]

In Canada, I'm more familiar with the term "letter carrier" for the people who deliver the mail while "postal worker" covers anyone working for Canada Post.