The international language of mail.

From direct mail services to catalog fulfillment to worldwide shipping procedures, the international mailing world has a language all its own. Because most businesses are not fluent in mail, we have provided this extensive listing of important terms and their definitions.

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Salting
Deliberate placement of decoy or dummy names in a list to trace list usage and delivery.
SCF
Acronym for “Sectional Center Facility,” a type of USPS processing facility.
Seeding/Seed
False or “dummy” names added to a mailing list as a way to check delivery and to uncover any unauthorized list usage.
Self-Mailer
A direct mail piece which requires no envelope for mailing, provided that the paper stock used is heavy enough to meet postal requirements.
Sender
See “Consignee.”
Sequential Processing
Information storage. Each item must be read one at a time, going through all the preceding records to get to the next record in sequential order.
SIC
Acronym for “Standard Industrial Classification.” A four-digit number assigned by the U.S. Department of Commerce based on product and function, under a system that provides a number/category for every type of business, institution and professional office in the U.S. economy. The four-digit number can be extended up to ten digits to provide thousands of category subdivisions.
Skid
A platform support for a pile of cut sheets of paper (wooden pallet).
Solo Mailing
A mailing which promotes only one product.
Sort
Sorting mail to meet local postal specifications (such as ZIP Code order).
Sorting
The computerized process of reorganizing a list from one sequence to another. For example, a file can be sorted by last name, company name, ZIP Code, high donors, multi-buyers, recent buyers, etc.
Source Code
Analogous to “Key Code.” Also refers to an alphabetical and/or numerical code used to distinguish one media source from another.
Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
An international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969. It is used by the UPU to calculate the exchange rates of terminal dues. See also “Terminal Dues.”
Spread
A double-page layout, which may include any combination of copy, line art and images. Usually two single 1 1/2" x 11" sheets result in a 17" x 11" spread.
SRDS
Acronym for “Standard Rate & Data Service,” which prints a Rates and Data book covering basic costs and production information for lists and publications.
Subscriber
Person who has paid to receive a periodical.
Subscription Payment Collection
A service offered by a number of postal operators whereby subscriptions can be collected with the advantage that the payment may be made in the currency of the country to which the mailing was sent.
Suppression File
A specific list of people who are not to be sent promotional mail, such as marketer’s current customers, bad debt customers, people who have requested not to receive direct mail promotions and the DMA’s Mail Preference Service list.
Surface Air Lift (SAL)
A process whereby mail is transported by air to a distribution point and moved from there by surface to the final delivery address.
Surface Mail
Mail conveyed by sea, rail and road, it is the slowest means of mail movement.
Swatching
Attaching samples of material to a printed piece.