ONE day a colleague turned to me and asked: “What is it for your information?”
“For your information.”
“What is FYA?”
“For your action.”
“What is WRT?“
“With reference to…”
Before the conversation could go any further, I quickly found a website on acronyms used in business communications and emailed it to him.
This conversation made me realize that the full meaning of many acronyms and abbreviations may not be immediately apparent to many people, students and working adults alike.
To begin with, an acronym is a word created from the combination of the initial letters of each word. For example, By your action.
An abbreviation is a word shortened from its original form. For example, “Attention”. is an abbreviation of the word “care” to convey the meaning “for the care of”.
In general, a period is used for abbreviations where the last letter of the word and the abbreviation are not the same. For example, “Co”. (Company) needs a full stop, but “Ltd” (Limited) does not. Acronyms do not need punctuation marks.
Here are some short forms commonly used in business communication, such as emails, faxes, and letters:
alias. – also know as
On Monday morning, Kay El, aka The Boss, happily walked in and greeted her assistant, Pee Jay.
approx. – about
Checking her email, Pee Jay read, “Today is the boss’s birthday. Can you all go quietly to the cafeteria in about 15 minutes?”
as soon as possible – as soon as possible
Pee Jay opened her calendar and jotted down some of the urgent items on her to-do list as soon as possible.
Attention. – for the care of
Flipping through the stack of mail to be sent, Pee Jay asked his boss, “Who should I write the check to for the annual report?”
Her boss responded, “Just write ‘Attention: Ms. Christine Jalleh.’ She’ll know what to do with it.”
BCC. – blind carbon copy or blind copy a. In this case, the carbon copy is sent to an email recipient whose email address is not visible to the cc or other bcc recipients.
“By the way, I think it’s best if you blindcopy me in your email to Brown. We don’t want him to think I’m supervising you for this project.”
DC. – carbon copy, or copy to
“But I would like a copy of Mr. Green’s email, as I haven’t filed them yet.”
co – in charge of, used when a document is sent to A, who will receive it on behalf of B because B is out of the office.
“Boss, I think Christine is back in China this week. Is it okay if I send the check to your assistant? I’ll still write your name at the top with c/o Ah Sis Tern below.”
CODE – payment on delivery, when a person makes the payment for the purchase of an item after having delivered it.
“I’m also going to send the check for the set of Business English reference books we bought cash on delivery on eBay.”
e.g. – exempli gratia (for example)
Pee Jay replied to the email, “Hi everyone. Remember that the boss doesn’t like surprises, like everyone yelling ‘Surprise!’ in the cafeteria.”
et al. – et alii (and others). Usually used to list co-authors after the main author in a bibliography, this form is now popularly used to address people other than the recipient in emails.
He received a new email that said: “Dear Pee Jay et al, I was reminded that the boss does NOT like surprises…”
etc. – etcetera (and so on OR and so on)
This means that we won’t be able to collectively surprise her by jumping out of the cafeteria doors as planned, etc.
ex. -except
“Can everyone except Pee Jay be in the cafeteria in 5 minutes? We need to find a surprise without the element of surprise. Thanks!”
for your information – for your information
Her boss’s voice brought the young assistant back to the present: “Pee Jay, I’m forwarding all these emails to you for your information, okay?”
fiscal year – for your action
“Please note that some of these emails are FYA…”
namely. – id is (that is)
After greeting his supervisor, Pee Jay decided to help out his colleagues, writing, “She’s in a good mood today, ie we won a new account and completed an important project.”
k – thousand, for example, 450K = 450,000
“Just to give you an idea of his mood, it’s a 450K advance for the first quarter…”
Pennsylvania – personal assistant
The immediate response to Pee Jay’s email read: “Thanks for the info Pee Jay, you are the best PA!”
No – per year (per year)
Pee Jay smiled and replied, “Haha, there’s a reason I get paid RM65K pa.”
double penetration – por pro (used when signing a document on behalf of someone)
Looking back at his paperwork, Pee Jay signed a few bills on behalf of his boss, inserting pp just before his signature.
reference point – please turn, is used at the end of a page to indicate that there is a continuity in the text.
“By the way, remember to write Pt on the first page of the proposal you’re submitting. The last time we sent it to you, you forgot to read the following pages,” Kay El chimed in.
view. – videlicet, namely
He got up and left a note on Pee Jay’s workstation before he left. Scribbled on it was: “Can I pass you my slice of birthday cake after I cut it? I really don’t need a lot of carbs, ie refined flour, at my age.” The note ended with a wink.
Readers can go to http://www.acronymfinder.com/ to look up the meanings of more than 4 million acronyms and abbreviations. This online dictionary also allows users to filter their search based on categories such as information technology (IT), military and government, business and finance, science and medicine, organizations and schools, and slang and pop culture.