the.com/zip

means To zip something is to move fast, close it shut with a sliding fastener, or compress files into a smaller archive — one little word covering speed, zippers, and ZIP codes alike.

from Zip started as imitative slang in the 1800s, mimicking the brisk, whizzing sound of something moving quickly through the air. That sound-sense made it a natural pick when the sliding fastener needed a name in the early 1900s — the zipper was literally named for the noise it made. From there 'zip' kept lending its energy: 'zip code' (coined by the US Postal Service) used it to suggest speedy mail delivery, and 'zip' files borrowed the same idea of brisk efficiency for compressed data. Oddly, 'zip' also means zero/nothing in slang — a separate thread, likely tied to the shape of the zero or to 'zip' as in 'not even a whizzing sound' worth of something.