Slack messages and emails are getting shorter and –sometimes– more difficult to decipher. The thing is, we all have busy lives and the pace of work is too fast. That’s why we come up with strategies to streamline our tasks and speed up communication. In an attempt to find short and simple ways of expressing something, acronyms were created. Explore this helpful list with the most common acronyms you will hear at work and download the cheatsheet below.
What’s An Acronym?
An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words to create a new, shorter word. NASA, for example, is an acronym that stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Some acronyms are used so frequently that they are now used as regular words (e.g. RADAR – Radio Detection and Ranging or PIN – Personal Identification Number).
If you are wondering how to pronounce acronyms, the answer is –it depends. Many acronyms are pronounce as a regular word (e.g. NASA /ˈnasə/, RADAR /ˈreɪdɑr/, PIN /pɪn/), but others are said by spelling out the individual letters (e.g. BBC /bi bi si/).
Informal Acronyms
Informal acronyms or abbreviations are those used to text friends. However, younger generations have started to use them at work. They are indeed getting more and more common in business communication, mainly on Slack, and especially among the younger sectors and when the speakers already know each other fairly well.
BTW, sometimes your HRM tells you it’s NBD and TYT but TBH they just want that file ASAP by EOD and, you know, ATEOTD, they’re the manager.
No, I didn’t just bash my head on the keyboard a few times. To some people, that sentence makes sense. Let’s have a look at the most common informal acronyms and abbreviations.
BTW: By The Way
TBH: To Be Honest
NBD: No Big Deal
Def: Definitely
BC: Because
OMY: On My Way
LMK: Let Me Know
WDTY: What Do You Think?
NP: No Problem
BRB: Be Right Back
FYI: For Your Information
IMO: In My Opinion
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
AKA: Also Known As
ATM: At The Moment
ASAP: As Soon As Possible
TYT: Take Your Time
GTMTA: Great Minds Think Alike
ATEOTD: At The End Of The Day
AYW: As You Want/Wish
IAC: In Any Case
OT: Off Topic
TL;DR: Too Long, Didn’t Read
Commonly Used Business Acronyms
The acronyms in the previous section are fairly common in instant messaging apps. Although they are gaining popularity in business emails, but they are very informal. In this section, you have a list of acronyms that were born in the office, so to say. They are not that informal and it is OK to use them in your emails, even when you don’t know the other person that well.
EOM: End Of Message
EOW: End Of Week
EOT: End Of Thread
COB: Close Of Business (Also EOD: End Of Day)
OOO: Out Of Office
RSVP: Please Respond
N/A: Not Applicable
TBD: To Be Decided
AWOL: Absent Without Leave
ETA: Estimated Time Of Arrival
PTO: Paid Time Off
PTE: Part-Time Employee
NWR: Not Work Related
Re: Referring to
FTE: Full-Time Employee
PTE: Part-Time Employee
Download this cheatsheet, save it in your Desktop and check it out whenever you don’t know an abbreviation, use it to prep before a meeting with any of your teams or to show off in one of your Slack channels.
Acronyms for People and Departments
It is easy to get lost if you are new in the office and you don’t know how things work yet. Get to know your people and your departments.
CEO: Chief Executive Officer
CFO: Chief Financial Officer
COO: Chief Operating Officer
CTO: Chief Technology Officer
VP: Vice President
HR: Human Resources
HRM: Human Resources Manager
QC: Quality Control
R&D: Research & Development
BD: Business Development
CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility
PR: Public Relations
PA: Personal Assistant
HQ: Headquarters
Financial Acronyms
Acronyms to talk about money and finance.
ACCT: Account
AP: Accounts Payable
AR: Accounts Receivable
BS: Balance Sheet
CPU: Cost Per Unit
CR: Credit
DR: Debit
EPS: Earnings Per Share
FIFO: First In, First Out
ROA: Return On Assets
ROI: Return On Investment
P&L: Profit and Loss
Marketing And Sales Acronyms
Use these acronyms in the world of social media, marketing and sales.
B2B; Business to Business
B2C: Business to Consumer
BR: Bounce Rate
CMS: Content Management System
CTA: Call To Action
CTR: Click Through Rate
CR: Conversion Rate
LTV: Lifetime Value
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
ESM: Email Service Provider
KPI: Key Performance Indicator
PPC: Pay Per Click
PV: Page View
RT: Retweet
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SM: Social Media
SMB: Small to Medium Business
SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
OC: Opportunity Cost
WOMM: Word Of Mouth Marketing
Technical Abbreviations
No more nodding and pretending you understand. Make sure you know what your IT colleagues are talking about when they mention these.
API: Application Program Interface
CSS: Cascading Style Sheet
FTP: File Transport Protocol
HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol
HTTPS: HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure
IM: Instant Messaging
IP: Internet Protocol
ISP: Internet Service Provider
OS: Operating System
LAN: Local Area Network
DNS: Domain Name System
XML: Extensible Markup Language
UI: User Interface
UX: User Interface
IT: Information Technology
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ISO: International Standards Organization
VPN: Virtual Private Network
RSS: Rich Site Summary
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Keep Improving Your Business Communication Skills
Save this list and check it out any time you need it. Would you like to practice these with a native-English teacher? Get in touch with us and we’ll create a business English training program tailored to your needs or explore our free resources.
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[Note: This article was originally posted in July 2019 and has been updated to ensure you keep reading relevant content today]
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