Business English: 10 Most Popular Workplace Abbreviations & 80 Business Acronyms 1

Business English: 10 Most Popular Workplace Abbreviations & 80 Business Acronyms

Business English! Learn 10 most common workplace abbreviations & 80 business English acronyms.

Business English

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. In written English, we use abbreviations to shorten common sentences to save time. This post will explain the most commonly used abbreviations that are used in a business setting.

10 Common Workplace Abbreviation

1. ASAP

ASAP = as soon as possible (If this is an Email from your boss, drop everything else and work on the report!)

E.g. “Send me the report ASAP”.

2. FYI

FYI = for your information (When you share information to keep people in the loop, it’s FYI.)

E.g. “FYI, this is the update I got from the team.”

3. BTW

BTW = by the way (Some even use it to mean “back to work” — safe for ending an online chat with colleagues.)

E.g. “I read that article BTW. Not so great”.

4. EOD

EOD = end of the day (End of the day can mean before closing time or before you or Roohi leave for the day, whichever happens first.)

E.g. “John, I will send you the details by tomorrow EOD”.

5. ATTN

ATTN=attention (Used to indicate who a letter is for)

E.g. “Attn: John Smith” 

6. N/A

N/A= not applicable (It is used to indicate when information in a certain table cell is not provided, either because it does not apply to a particular case in question or because the answer is not available.)

E.g.  “How old is your son?: N/A” (because the person is still single).

7. COB 

COB =Close of business (Used to refer to the end of a working day, usually when stating a deadline)

E.g. “This is just a reminder that the survey is still open and will remain open until COB today

8. COD

COD = cash on delivery (It is a mode of payment; you pay when the goods are delivered.)

E.g. “We don’t have to pay the printer now. It’s COD.”

 9. TBD

TBD = to be decided (You will know it eventually.)

E.g. “No. of participants: TBD”

10. RSVP

RSVP= Répondez s’il Vous plait (RSVP is indeed French and it stands for répondez s’il Vous plaît. It literally means “please respond”. RSVP is now a fixed idiom, even in French.)

E.g. “RSVP to John by April the 20th”

Business English Acronyms and Abbreviations

  1. Acct – Account
  2. Ad– Advertisement
  3. Approx – Approximately
  4. APR – Annual percentage rate
  5. BS- Bachelor of Science Degree
  6. B2B – Business to business
  7. BA – Bachelor of Business Administration Degree
  8. CEO – Chief Executive Officer
  9. CFO – Chief Financial Officer
  10. Co. – Company
  11. Corp. – Corporation
  12. CSR – Customer Sales Representative
  13. Dept. – Department
  14. Div – Division
  15. Ea. – Each
  16. EST – Eastern Standard Time (the time on the East Coast of the United States and some Canadian provinces)
  17. FAQ – Frequently Asked Question
  18. FWD – Forward
  19. GDP – Gross Domestic Product
  20. Govt. – Government
  21. HQ – Headquarters
  22. Inc. – Incorporated
  23. ISO – International Organization for Standardization
  24. Jr. – Junior
  25. Lb. – Pound (weight)
  26. LLC – Limited liability company
  27. Max – Maximum
  28. MBA – Master of Business Administration Degree
  29. Memo- Memorandum
  30. Mfg– Manufacturing
  31. Min. – Minimum
  32. Mo – Month
  33. No – Number
  34. Pkg – Package
  35. PO – Purchase order
  36. PR – Public relations
  37. Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 – First quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter
  38. Qty – Quantity
  39. R&D  – Research and Development
  40. Re – In regards to, regarding
  41. Recd. – Received
  42. ROI – Return on Investment
  43. SWOT – Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
  44. Temp – Temporary Secretary
  45. VP – Vice President
  46. W/ – With
  47. W/O – Without
  48. Yr. – Year
  49. 404 – Abbreviation for the “Error 404 – Not Found” message displayed when coming across a dead link online. It can also mean lost or confused, e.g. “After coming out of the weekly staff meeting, I still felt 404.”
  50. COOP – Continuity of operations planning.
  51. EOM – End of message.
  52. EOT – End of thread.
  53. ESP – Email service provider
  54. FWIW –  “For what it’s worth.”  Commonly used in email communications.
  55. IAM – “In a meeting.”
  56. IM – instant message.
  57. IMO – “In my opinion.”  Commonly used in email communications or IMHO – “in my humble opinion.”
  58. KPI – Key performance indicator.
  59. KRA – Key result area.
  60. MBO – Management by objectives.
  61. NSFW – Not Safe For Work.  Your college buddy has just sent you a link titled “Check this out! (NSFW).”  Don’t click on it if you value your job.
  62. NWR – Not work-related.
  63. OLT – Online Training.
  64. OTP – “On the phone.”
  65. RACI – a tool used to assign roles and responsibilities to team members.  Stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
  66. ROWE – Results in Only Work Environment.
  67. SMART – used in goal setting, it stands for Specific, Measureable, Attainable or Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
  68. SME – subject matter expert.
  69. SNS – Social network site.
  70. SOHO – Small Office/ Home Office.
  71. VC – Virtual Class.
  72. VLE – Virtual learning environment.
  73. VPN – Virtual private network.
  74. VW – virtual worker.
  75. VWVW – a virtual worker at a virtual workplace.
  76. WAH – Work At Home, see WFH.
  77. WBT – Web-based training.
  78. WIIFM – “What’s in it for me?”
  79. WFH – Work From Home.
  80. 401k – A common type of US retirement savings plan