Common English Abbreviations

영어표현에서 약자로 쓰는 경우가 많은데 내용을 알고 있으면 쉽게 이해할 수 있지만 그 약자를 모를 경우에 매우 난처한 경우를 당할때가 있습니다. 자주 사용하는 비지니스 관련 약자에 대해서 알아 보도록 하겠습니다.

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. EOD

EOD = end of day (End of 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”

Other Business Abbreviations

Some abbreviations can be used in emails or chatting online, some are specific to the virtual workplace.

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 – Maximm
28. MBA – Master of Business Administration Degree
29. Memo- Memorandum
30. Mfg– Manufacturing
31. Min. – Minium
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.  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 – tool used to assign roles and responsibilities to team members.  Stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
66. ROWE – Results 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 – virtual worker at 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

e.g. is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase exempli gratia, meaning “for example.”