Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or name. An abbreviation (from Latin brevis, meaning short) is a shortened form of a word or phrase. For example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr.,

Why do you need to know this? Well, you don't, but you will find them cropping up in business, and education, and nowadays in forums, when you're texting and in chat rooms. So, it's a good idea to at least be aware of their existence.

Symbol
Meaning
& and
~ approximately / about / more or less
@ at
  ° degree
$ Dollar
= equals/is the same as
Euro
> greater / better / more than
infinity
< less / smaller than
- minus
# number
¶  paragraph
% per cent
+ plus, in addition to
£ Pound
§  section
\ therefore
¥ Yen

24/7

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

404

I don't know
 
abbr. abbreviation
addr. address
AGM annual general meeting

aka

also known as
aob any other business
approx. approximately
asap as soon as possible
asst. assortment
b/c because
BSOD blue screen of death - as experienced by most Windows users
BTW by the way
c. or ca. circa, about c.1800
C19 nineteenth century
cd. could
CEO chief executive officer
cf. compare this with...
Ch. chapter

c/o

care of
cob close of business
compl. complete
corp. corporation
CRM customer relationship management
CSR corporate social responsibility
ct. contrast
ctrl. control
CV curriclum vitae
dept. department
devt. development
diff. difference

diy

do it yourself
edn. edition
educ. education

e.g.

exempli gratia (for example)
encl. enclosed

EOB

end of business
EOM end of message

esp.

especially

ETA

estimated time of arrival
et al. et alii (and everyone else)

etc.

etcetera (and so forth)
FAQ(s) frequently asked question(s)
fifo first in first out
filo first in last out
fwd forwarded
FYA for your attention

FYI

for your information
gigo garbage in garbage out

GMT

Greenwich Mean Time
Govt. Government
HQ headquarters
hr. hour
HR Human Resources
ht. height

i.e.

id est (that is, that means)
impt. important
info. information
ISBN international standard book number

JIT

Just In Time
lifo last in first out
lilo last in last out
ltd limited
max. maximum
MD managing director
min. minimum
movt. movement

MPH

miles per hour

NB

nota bene (important, notice this)
no(s) number(s)
ok okay

p.

page
pp. paginae (pages)

para.

paragraph
pc(s) piece(s)
PLC public limited company

pls.

please

ppl.

people
PR public relations

prob.

problem

PTO

please turn over
qtr. quarter
R&D research and development
re. res (with reference to / regarding)
rep. representative
RSVP respondez s'il vous plait (please reply)
   
sae stamped addressed envelope
sec. second
SME small and medium (size) enterprises
SWOT strengths weaknesses opportunities threats
TBA to be announced
temp. temperature / temporary
USP unique selling point

vgc

very good condition
VP vice president
vs against
wd would

w/

with
w/o without
wt. weight
wysiwyg
What You See Is What You Get
BA Bachelor of Arts
BEd Bachelor of Education
BSc Bachelor of Science
MA Master of Arts
MBA Master of Business Administration
MSc Master of Science
PhD Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy)
 

404

I don't know
A3 Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
AAK Alive and Kicking
AAP Always a Pleasure
AAR At Any Rate
AFAIK As Far As I Know
AFK Away from Keyboard
AOTA All Of The Above
ATM At The Moment
AWHFY Are We Having Fun Yet?
AYPI
And Your Point Is?
B4 Before
B4N Bye For Now
B/F Boyfriend
BBL
Be Back Later
BBIAF
Be Back in a Few
BCNU
Be Seein' You
BEG
Big Evil Grin
BFN
Bye For Now
BG
Big Grin
BIF
Basic In Fact
BRB
Be Right Back
BTDT Been There Done That
BTW By The Way
CLM Career Limiting Move

CM

Call Me
CR8 Create
CU See You
CUL8R
See You Later (L + eight + r - get it?)
DIKU? Do I Know You?
DQMOT Don't Quote Me On This
DUR? Do You Remember?
F2F
Face To Face

FUD

(Spreading) Fear, Uncertainty, and Disinformation
FWIW
For What It's Worth

FYA

For Your Amusement
FYI For Your Information
G/F Girlfriend
GA Go Ahead

GAL

Get A Life

GMTA

Great Minds Think Alike
GSOH Good Sense of Humour

HTH

Hope This(That) Helps

IAE

In Any Event
IC I See
ICWUM
I See What You Mean
IM Instant Message
IMO
In My Opinion
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO In My Not So Humble Opinion
IOW In Other Words
IRL In Real Life
J4F Just For Fun
JK Just Kidding

KISS

Keep it Short and Simple
L8R Later
LDR Long distance relationship (for those people who have never met in person, or have moved and have to Skype each other to keep the flame of romance alive.)
LOL Laughing Out Loud / Lots of Love
LTNS Long Time No See
MOF
Male or Female
MHOTY
My Hat's Off To You
MOTD
Message Of The Day

MTFBWU

May The Force Be With You

NBIF

No Basis In Fact
NFC
No Further Comment
NP No Problem
NRN
No Reply Necessary

OBO

Or Best Offer
OBTW
Oh, By The Way

OIC

Oh, I see
OOTB
Out Of The Box / Out of the Blue

OTOH

On the Other Hand
OTT Over the Top
PC Politically Correct
pdq pretty damn quick
PM Private Message

POV

Point Of View

PMFJI

Pardon Me For Jumping In

ROTFL

Rolling On The Floor Laughing
RTM
Read The Manual
SITD
Still In The Dark = Still don't understand
SMTOE Sets My Teeth On Edge = annoys you a lot
SNAFU Situation normal all effed up
T+
Think Positive
TAF That's All Folks
TAFN
That's All For Now

TIA

Thanks In Advance
TIC
Tongue In Cheek = say something that appears to be serious, but isn't
TGIF Thank goodness it's Friday
TLC
Tender Loving Care
TM2T
Too Much To Type
TTFN Ta Ta For Now
T2UL
Talk To You Later
TTTT
To Tell The Truth
TU Thank You
TUVM Thank You Very Much
TX
Thanks
TYCLO
TURN YOUR CAPS LOCK OFF!
unPC unPolitically Correct

WB

Welcome Back
WEG
Wicked Evil Grin
WRT
With respect to

WTG

Way To Go!
WUF? Where are You From?
X!
Typical Woman

Y!

Typical Man
YW You're Welcome
ZZZZ Sleeping / Bored
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