savingram

English

Etymology

Blend of saving +‎ telegram

Noun

savingram (plural savingrams)

1. A piece of administrative correspondence that uses the informal and abbreviated language of a telegram, but sent by mail, which is less expensive.
   • 1995, Anne Thurston, Sources for Colonial Studies in the Public Record Office, →ISBN:

     Savingrams were used where there was not sufficient urgency to necessitate telegrams and they were sent in the same way as despatches.

   • 1996, The International Journal of African Historical Studies:

     In light of this the colonial secretary noted in a draft savingram to the Colonies "cotton is one of those commodities of which it is necessary to increase production in the Sterling Area in order to reduce dollar expenditure and to assist in closing the dollar gap."

   • 2001, Karl Metcalf, Near Neighbours: Records on Australia's Relations with Indonesia:

     This series contains copies of outward cablegrams and savingrams from Canberra either to Jakarta or to Dili, which were classified secret and below.