Ever feel like your co-workers—or, worse, your boss—are speaking to you in a different language? No, I’m not talking about your team suddenly deciding to conduct a meeting entirely in French. I’m talking about what often seems to be the language of the business world: acronyms.
While some of us have the guts to ask for clarification when we have no idea what’s being said, others of us cringe at the thought of asking potentially “stupid” questions. Well, to everyone in the latter group: Today’s your lucky day. We’ve rounded up abbreviations for the most commonly used terms that you’re likely to run into at work (or more likely, in an email).
Better yet, they’re categorized by department, so you can prep before a meeting with your finance, technical, or marketing teams. (And because we’re pretty sure that, regardless of your role, you don’t want to be the only one who nods with a confused smile when there’s a RFD because the CTR for your website decreased and a QA test is required by EOD.)
General
BID: Break it down
COB: Close of business
EOD: End of day
EOM: End of message OR end of month
EOT: End of thread
EOW: End of week
ETA: Estimated time of arrival
FTE: Full-time employee
FWIW: For what it’s worth
IAM: In a meeting
IMO: In my opinion
KISS: Keep it simple stupid
LET: Leaving early today
LMK: Let me know
MoM: Month over month
MTD: Month to date
NIM: No internal message
OOO: Out of office
OT: Off topic
OTP: On the phone
PA: Performance appraisal
POC: Point of contact
PTE: Part-time employee
PTO: Paid time off
NRN: No reply necessary
NSFW: Not safe for work
NWR: Not work related
Re: Referring to
RFD: Request for discussion
SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound
SME: Subject matter expert
TED: Tell me, explain to me, describe to me
TL;DR: Too long, didn’t read
TLTR: Too long to read
TOS: Terms of service
TYT: Take your time
WFH: Work from home
WIIFM: What’s in it for me
WOM: Word of mouth
YTD: Year to date
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
IPO: Initial public offering
LIFO: Last in, first out
LWOP: Leave without pay
NAV: Net assets value
P-card: Purchase card
ROA: Return on assets
ROE: Return on equity
ROI: Return on investment
P/E: Price to earnings
P&L: Profit and loss
Technical
API: Application program interface
CPU: Central processing unit
CSS: Cascading style sheet
FTP: File transport protocol
HTML: HyperText markup language
HTTP: HyperText transfer protocol
HTTPS: HyperText transfer protocol secure
IM: Instant messaging
IP: Internet protocol
ISP: Internet service provider
OS: Operating system
QA: Quality assurance
UI: User interface
URL: Universal resource locator
UX: User experience
VPN: Virtual private network
RAM: Random-access memory
ROR: Ruby on Rails
RSS: Rich site summary OR really simple syndication
WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get
Marketing and Sales
AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action
B2B: Business to business
B2C: Business to consumer
BR: Bounce rate
CMS: Content management system
CPC: Cost per click
CTA: Call to action
CTR: Click through rate
CR: Conversion rate
CRM: Customer relationship management
DM: Direct message or direct mail
ESP: Email service provider
GA: Google Analytics
KPI: Key performance indicator
PPC: Pay per click
PV: Page view
RFP: Request for proposal
ROS: Run of site
RT: Retweet
SaaS: Software as a service
SEO: Search engine optimization
SM: Social media
SMB: Small to medium business
SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
UV: Unique visitor
Job and Department Titles
BD: Business development
CAO: Chief analytics officer
CDO: Chief data officer
CEO: Chief executive officer
CFO: Chief financial officer
CIO: Chief information officer
CMO: Chief marketing officer
COO: Chief operating officer
CPA: Certified public accountant
CSO: Chief security officer
CSR: Corporate social responsibility
CTO: Chief technology officer
CFP: Certified financial planner
DOE: Depending on experience
GC: General counsel
HR: Human resources
PM: Project manager
PR: Public relations
R&D: Research and development